I won't disagree with the damage to the tyres, but a lamp post would cause a lot more damage when you hit it after skidding. As I said on my previous post, a copper said when I asked about driving on tarmac "as long as they keep you moving I don't give a bl00dy stuff!"
. He was quietly impressed that I had snow chains "you are the first person I have seen who is ready for the conditions".
I did see an Alfa with snow socks, but as they were going the other way I couldn't say how good they were. I noticed that the driver had to jack the car up to put them on. I didn't have to do so to put the chains on. I did, however, leave a twist in the NS chain, which allowed it to pop off after a couple of miles
. Getting it right second time around stopped it happening again.
You can get snow chains (sort of) for your feet. I have a set of the following, and they do work;
http://www.wookyungtech.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I got some for my mother last winter, and she feels that they probably stopped her from slipping into the canal.
Asda do something similar (but they had sold out at my local branch).