As Minnesota finally accretes its first snow cover, we see again a local “custom” among the short-on-time and chronically-tardy; people driving down the street with snow billowing off of cars they haven’t had time to brush off.
I saw one of these snow squalls moving toward me up Hamline Avenue this morning; curls of fine snow spray covered the street in the gusty wind.
As it blew off of a Saint Paul police car.
“Hey, did that snowbank just make a U-turn?”
“Nah, grab the loot, let’s go.”
Ha! I’m guilty of this sort of thing quite a few mornings…I scrape just enough ice off the windshield to be able to see out straight in front of me. It’s usually clear just as I pull into my parking spot at work…and the car is finally warm by then too. Reverse procedure at night. I would love to have a remote start but then you’re burning gas going nowhere.
Hey, snow isn’t the worst thing. I was driving east on Hwy. 55 several years ago, following a serious ice/sleet/snow storm in the metro area. Suddenly a thick, large sheet of ice detached from the roof of a conversion van heading west, out of the storm-impacted area. It totally destroyed the windshield of the car ahead of me and seriously injured the driver and passenger. I managed to swerve into the ditch and back out (thanks to the mostly bare ground west of the metro) to avoid the smacked car.
Last winter I eschewed scraping and defrosting one morning. I ended up plowing into the side of a car at Lexington and Selby. Never again. Windows are always clean for me.
I can see not doing this if you’re driving some tall vehicle, but even someone at 5′ can clear the snow off a Crown Vic. Yeesh.
And forget the law. What about basic common courtesy?
Thanks mefolkes. One more thing for me to worry about in life that I hadn’t thought of…
BTW, I live in the sticks and although there is some traffic on the road into town, by the time I get to town there is generally clear windows all around…so I can see the school buses and cars full of crazy-driving high school kids!
Can I add that people that tailgate on snow need to die in a fire?
I drive a car that weighs very little, has a manual transmission, and no anti-lock brakes. It requires actual skill to drive in snow. If I am ascending a snow-covered, unplowed off-ramp I am going slow because if I go faster, I will end up in the ditch. Driving two feet from my bumper will only make me curse the wench that bore you, it will not make me go any faster. If you want to drive like a meth-smoking arse-lemur, that is fine. Just don’t expect us sane people to follow.
And thus my rant concludes…
At least clear off the head lights, all three brake lights & all turn signals. There is an element of social responsibility here!
Damn it Mitch, this is how the ideas for “feel-good” “mommy-state” laws get started.
I swear if I ever get a ticket for “insufficient snow removal from a moving vehicle” I’m soooo coming after you.