Pet peeve: snow on cars

[NTZ]

In MA we just had our first snow of the season and as I was driving around this morning I could not help but get irritated at all of the cars still covered in snow driving down the steet.

I just can't believe people can not take the time to properly clear the snow off their cars before driving.

Whew, I feel better now that I got to rant about it.

NTZ

 

[Turanil]

I agree with you, it's absolutely intolerable.

Now, the thing that personally irritates me are all those women who get married, but don't want to... well, huuuh, okay, okay.

 

[Crothian]

It is bad and very dangerous. Sometimes it hard to figure how these people are seeing since many don't clear the side and back windows all the way.

 

[EricNoah]

I'm one of those people! Despite living in Wisconsin for over 2 decades, I still don't factor in 5 extra minutes at the start of my day to clear off my car. Plus as long as I can basically see thru the windows I figure no big deal. My wife gets to keep her car in the garage, lucky lady!

 

[Arbiter of Wyrms]

Snow ignorant

For 28 years, I have lived in a community that gets almost no snow (maybe 3" once every 15 years) so I can't say I fully understand why driving with a stack of snow on one's car is dangerous.

I'm interested to know for two reasons.
1. My wife and I plan to move to the Seattle area within the next five years.
2. I was at the scene of a fatal car accident yesterday and it really shook me.

 

[Crothian]

Snow on a vehicle is dangerous for two main reasons. The first, is line of sight and many people do not clear off all their windows, so they have blind spots. Combine that with slippery roads and other problems common after a snow fall and it just gets worse. The second problem is snow moving once you are. Snow from the hood can travels backwards and covers the windshield causing problems. If its more ice it can fly off as one big sheet impacting other cars and causing them problems. Obviously, many people like Eric don't fulkly clear off the car and stay safe. I have no idea if any studies have been on this in relationships to wrecks.

 

[Arbiter of Wyrms]

Thank you. Fascinating AND scary. I'll be sure to find a garage or carport in Seattle.

 

[RangerWickett]

You know, it's not the fault of the car owners. It's the fault of the snow. It should be arrested, to keep it from repeating these terrible crimes.

I used to live in Southeast Texas, 30 miles from the shore of the Gulf of Mexico. It rains a lot there. I was always a sensible enough citizen to make sure the rain didn't collect on my hood. If any was stuck there, I'd scrape it off, no matter how long it took.

 

[NTZ]

I can ALMOST understand how some people don't clean off enough snow (SUVs and vans), but I can't understand it with smaller vehicles.

Sometimes you see a minivan pull to a stop either at a red light or a stop sign and as the weight shifts all of the snow from the roof comes sliding forward across the windshield and onto the road in front of them.

Crothian mentions what I consider the most dangerous scenario - harden snow or sheets of ice sailing backwards from the roof of a vehicle on the highway. I am always on the lookout for this.

NTZ

 

[drothgery]

When I lived in the Frozen North (okay, upstate New York), I was always extremely paranoid about scraping snow off of my car; I'd spend ten minutes making sure everything was cleared off, even if it was still snowing when I went out.

Now, of course, snow is not something I need to worry about. The typical Southern Californian's panic reaction to rain, though, has had my car in the shop for the past two weeks.