No one enjoys being out in the cold in the early hours of the morning scraping their car. You may be tempted to jump in your car, blast the heat, and hope everything melts before you get on the highway — and hey, what’s the harm in a little extra snow flying around? Everyone seems to be covered in it anyway.
The thing is, leaving mounds of untouched snow on your vehicle isn’t just bad etiquette; it’s awfully unsafe, and illegal to boot. Here’s why it’s worth putting on your warmest gloves, and brushing off your car before heading out.
Snow on your car is dangerous for you, and other drivers
Your windshield spans the width of your car for a reason, and brushing off a tiny spot to desperately peer out of won’t cut it when it comes to being safe on the road. You need to be able to see out of your front and rear windshield, and all four windows. And don’t forget to clean off your side-view mirrors — you’d be surprised how often people forget about this!
Once you’ve successfully cleared the snow and scraped the ice off of your car, give the top a brush. This is another place many people forget, but it’s very important. The snow on your roof can slide right back onto your rear windshield once you start driving, undoing all the work you did to clear it, making it impossible to see. You never want to be caught in this situation on a busy highway.
If that doesn’t happen, there’s a good chance it’ll blow onto the unlucky vehicle behind you, which is unfair (and incredibly unsafe) for the other car.