Cast your minds back to the autumn when we had a few sharp frosts.

There was not one flake of snow forecast, just frosts, and yet West Sussex County Council were salting as if there was no tomorrow.

The roads ended up white with it and all totally unnecessary. This is the problem being a highway engineer today – heads you lose, tails you can't win.

In my book, if a driver skids on a road when there's a frost there is no-one to blame but the driver.

Obviously, there are some spots where natural springs come onto roads which should be properly salted to keep ice at bay but is there any reason to heavily salt all roads just because a few frosts are forecast?

But council engineers play safe and salt the roads regardless, just in case someone has an accident and blames the council for not covering the roads with tons of salt.

And so, when we really need the stuff, we run short, just at the time when roads are thousands of times more dangerous than in a frost.

It's the same mentality over school closures. Another can't-win situation, all brought about by this health and safety, fear of litigation culture which has permeated every aspect of our lives.

I can remember walking three miles to school in the harshest of winters from the age of eight and we had snow where you couldn't tell where the pavement ended and the road began, it was so deep.

There's no doubt there were countless thousands of people who, hearing the news, decided not to even try to get to work. Heaven help this country if there was a real disaster.

A quick check of doctors' surgeries on the day of the snow revealed that many people didn't bother to visit surgeries for appointments they had made.

Some didn't even bother to telephone and cancel – and the majority of those were the 20 and 30 somethings who, it seems, don't think it matters any more to give one jot of consideration for others.

End bonus culture and tips too

The big topic of conversation on both sides of the Atlantic is the appalling situation over bankers' bonuses.

Quite rightly, people are asking why failure should be rewarded and that failed bankers, those who for years were pumped up by greed and the prospect of huge financial rewards, should be able to open the treasure chest once again, now at public expense, when millions of people are being thrown out of work worldwide.

The problem is that there are many, many bankers who have bonuses written into their contracts and there are those people working in profitable sections of banks who, quite rightly, ask why they should not be rewarded with bonuses.

It's a valid argument that they should not be tarnished with the excesses of the ultra-greedy.

This recession should give any responsible government the opportunity to take a long, hard look at bonus culture, salary levels and taxation.
There is no doubt that bonuses motivate staff. Tesco, for example, has a share bonus scheme and it obviously works.

We need to introduce a system where staff, management directors and shareholders are rewarded for success equally.

Can anyone possibly justify directors of companies rewarding themselves pay rises of 25 per cent and more annually, while staff get three to four per cent if they are lucky?

Can anyone justify a salary in excess of a third of a million a year? Is anyone really worth that money? Can anyone really justify bonuses on top of another quarter of a million a year?

Can any MP really justify huge expenses claims and freebee junketing trips all around the world and not have them put under public scrutiny?

Can anyone possibly justify a taxation regime where a person on average pay under PAYE has to hand over more than 20 per cent of his/her income in tax and NI contributions and the mega rich hand over proportionately very little more, thanks to all manner of tax loopholes?

We need a fairer society, one which rewards people who work hard at whatever job they have, but does not reward failure, one which puts a legal cap on huge salaries and greed.

-------------------------------------
Click here to go back to Tony Mayes.

Where are you? Add your pin to the Herald's international readers' map by clicking here.

Email the Herald: tony.mayes@worthingherald.co.uk