Clean the Windows!

It’s that time of year again.  Now, more often than not, we are going to wake up to frost and/or snow in the morning. 

Many of us do not have garages for our cars.  Of course, many of us do have garages, but they look like Sanford & Son or Fibber McGee’s closet and there is no way a car is going to fit inside!  Personally, it is my mission every fall to make sure that the cars make it in the garage.  If I have to dispose of stuff (read: JUNK) in order to do so, it is gonzo.

For the many people that store their vehicles outside, frost and/or snow on the car is common in the morning.  Many people take a few minutes to scrape/sweep it off.  Some start their cars and let them warm up and melt the frost/snow off.  (That is a beef for the environmentalists, not this column.  I also recall reading a column by a mechanic which said that the best way to warm up your vehicle is actually driving it.)

Some people, the lazy buggers, scrape just enough of the frost off for them to see out a little bit of the windshield and drive off.  You know who you are.  How long, really, how long does it take to do all the windows?  We are talking about less than five minutes.  How will you feel if you get into an accident and hurt someone because you didn’t clean your windows?

The snowy days bring out the really lazy people.  We’ve all seen them – the cars with eight inches of snow driving down the street, a cloud of snow billowing off them, big chunks flying off and landing on the windshield of the car behind.  Again, how long does it take to brush off the car?

Here’s the law:  The Highway Traffic Act makes it an offence to drive a vehicle where the windshield and front side windows are not clear.  The rear window must also be clear, except in certain circumstances.  No scraping or brushing = a ticket.  I think the police should have about three days winter when they do a blitz for unscraped windows.  That would be a start.

As for snow on the vehicle, that can attract a ticket for driving an unsafe vehicle.  That offence is for more than just your vehicle being unsafe: it includes driving a vehicle that is in a condition that may endanger others.  I would suggest that a vehicle billowing snow and blinding the people behind it fits that category.  The minimum fine is $400.

Clean the windows (and side mirrors) completely of frost and snow before you go.  Not only will you not be at risk of a ticket – you’ll be less likely to get into an accident.  There is no excuse.