Time for a Reminder to Clean the Snow off Your Car or Face Steep Fines

The snow on Sunday was so beautiful, mostly because I stayed home and got to watch it falling outside my window.  But, as the snow season is upon us, it’s a good time to remember that it is the law to clean off your car completely before driving.

Jessica’s Law was passed in 2002 after Jessica Smith was killed when a large chunk of ice flew off a truck and hit her car.

I actually was driving on 95 heading toward Rochester and a car in front of me had chunks of snow/ice falling right in front of me. So dangerous.

According to WMUR.com, New Hampshire State Police took to their Facebook page with the hashtags “jessicaslaw, #safetyfirst, and #clearthesnowbeforeyougo with the image of a car that had a smashed windshield due to ice falling from another vehicle.

I have a tool called a Snow Joe that allows me to reach the top of my car and easily push the snow and ice off my car.  If you see snow in the forecast and you have to be somewhere in the morning, make sure you set your alarm early enough to get out there and fully clean off your vehicle.

Per reporting by WMUR.com, the fine for driving a car that is not cleaned of snow and ice can start at $250 and go up to $1,000.

But don’t let the fine be the deterrent, think of the lives you will save, including your own by keeping all that excess snow off your car.  Once you hit the highway and pick-up speed that snow/ice can be a projectile that can kill.

Even if it has snowed and the temperature has warmed up, that snow on the top of your car is still a hazard.  My wife learned the hard way one snowy weekend when her car had snow on the top, but the rest of the car was clean as the temperature had warmed up.  She figured it would just blow off, but when she stopped for a red light the snow slipped down and covered the entire windshield and she couldn’t see.

Just be safe and clean the snow off your car before heading out.  It’s the law and you could save a life.