I donβt usually like to tell other people what they should β or shouldnβt β be doing, but seeing some dangerous behaviour over the past week has compelled me to get typing. Why drive with snow on your car?
Waiting to collect my daughter from school on Friday, I was disturbed to see a procession of cars leaving the school almost completely covered in up to 10cm of snow. Not one had bothered to clear the snow off the side windows of their cars. The best had just stuck the front wipers on and the worst had only cleared off the driverβs side of the front screen.
Not only was this a rubbish example to be setting for the pupils, it was also downright dangerous β they would struggle to see other vehicles and the children walking home near them.Β The AA this week alsoΒ criticised driversΒ who haven’t cleared theirΒ cars of snow and ice, or what it calls the ‘igloo mentality’.
Of course, it’s also illegal. The Road Vehicles (Construction & Use) Regulations 1986 state that itβs illegal to drive a vehicle where the driverβs vision through the windscreen is impaired.
Clearing your car of snow and ice
So why didnβt they at least clear all their car windows so they had all-round visibility? And surely theyβd want other road users to see them, so wouldnβt they think to wipe the snow off their carsβ lights and indicators?
To be honest, they really should have gone further, as I learned from a motorbike-riding colleague. He told me heβd almost been knocked off his bike by a roof-load of snow that suddenly flew off a car.
At least some of the drivers I saw had made a small effort to clear their carsβ screens, unlike one motorway driver whoβd only scraped a narrow slit in the screen of their Audi A4. Iβm not one for reporting other motorists for bad behaviour, but Iβd definitely have informed the police about this one.
Do you drive in the snow?
Yes (49%, 230 Votes)
Only if I really need to (44%, 210 Votes)
No (7%, 32 Votes)
Total Voters: 473
