# Clear the fucking SNOW off your car!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 17, 2007, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651 "2007-02-17T21:56:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651/101 "2007-02-21T21:21:52Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] See, this is the difference between various regions of the country. If you go to a supermarket in Alaska in the dead of winter, half the cars in the parking lot have their engines running, while the owners are shopping in the store. Clearly, mileage varies wildly on this subject. [/QUOTE] Yeah, no kidding. Where I live there is snow on the ground 6 months out of the year, 20 below f is not unusuall. I leave for work down a winding mountain road at 6am. Your darn tootin I’m going to warm up my car first. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2007, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651/102 "2007-02-21T21:51:10Z")
I would expect that any politician who tabled anti-warm-up-idling legislation in these parts would be lynched. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651/103 "2007-02-23T20:00:29Z")
[QUOTE=congodwarf] My routine: 1. Get up 2. Put on some clothes 3. Go the fuck outside, turn on the goddamn car and turn the heat on HIGH. 4. Go back inside and shower, dress, and do other getting ready shit. … [/QUOTE] 5a. Go back outside to leave for work. 5b. Go back outside and see only a piece of dry pavement where my car used to be I see lots of cars stolen by virtue of this brilliant strategy. Stop it. I also see lots of people injured and occasionally killed because of people who drive too fast/follow too closely when conditions are wintery. I’ve never seen a car damaged, nor any ensuing mayhem, from flying automotive glaciers. Stop following too close, especially if the guy in front of you has created an annoying condition that’s likely to incite you to road rage. When it’s fatal, road rage usually ends up killing someone uninvolved and reasonable. I see a lot of that too. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651/104 "2007-02-23T21:02:36Z")
**Inigo** , bear in mind that sheets of ice off of transport roofs often have quite a long hang time. Following well back is not enough to keep clear of these things. I get hit several times each winter – sometimes when I am several seconds behind, sometimes when I am behind the vehicle that is behind the transport that lets loose, and sometimes, as was the case yesterday (fortunately only taking a chunk out of the windscreen), when I am travelling in the opposite direction on a bend. I assure you, that despite your not having seen or experienced being hit with a load of ice, it certainly does occur, and the damage is often significant. Expressing concern about road rage and tailgaters is all well and fine, but has nothing to do with damage that is caused by flying glaciers. One of my goals in life is to purchase a remote starter, so that I can turn on my car and let it warm up without my having to go outside. They are commonly used where I live (north-western Ontario). My vehicle must be given time to warm up, for sitting in it when it is very cold results in the interior of the windows immediately frosting up with my breath (not to mention that driving it when very cold is very hard on the vehicle given the the lubricants are Jello). It becomes a matter of whether I let it warm up while I am inside the vehicle, or while I am inside my home – the gas consummption during warm-up is the same either way. Since remote starters do not affect the steering lock mechanism, I’ll be able to let the vehicle warm up without worrying about theft once I get one installed. (Fortunately, I live in the countryside, so theft during the morning warm-up is not an issue despite my not having the remote starter yet.) ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651/105 "2007-02-23T21:09:58Z")
I reckon the snow behaves differently from place to place as well. Here in Denver it’s either powder accompanied by 2-15 days of really cold weather, in which case the snow blows off in a beatiful sustained cloud; or really soggy snow followed by a week or so of balmy sprng days, in which case the snow slides right off the car like lard in a hot frying pan. or something. I have to admit that it’s unusual here for snow to turn into an ice sheet on your car. Just meant that while it may be a pain in the butt to deal with the other guy’s mess, the bigger problem is nutcases that insist they have the same traction on snow at 50 mph as they do on dry pavement at 10. But I guess that’d be a different PIT thread. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2007, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651/106 "2007-02-23T22:26:10Z")
[QUOTE=Inigo Montoya] Just meant that while it may be a pain in the butt to deal with the other guy’s mess, the bigger problem is nutcases that insist they have the same traction on snow at 50 mph as they do on dry pavement at 10. But I guess that’d be a different PIT thread. Never mind. [/QUOTE] That would be the pickup on the snow/ice covered highway here yesterday that ran full tilt into the back of a school bus that was stopped to discharge children. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured. The pickup was totalled (engine block under the cab). ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651/107 "2007-02-24T01:17:48Z")
[QUOTE=Inigo Montoya] I’ve never seen a car damaged, nor any ensuing mayhem, from flying automotive glaciers. [/QUOTE] I’ve never seen a white rhino, either, but they exist. You might want to have a look at the links posted on p. 1 of this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651/108 "2007-02-24T01:23:18Z")
[QUOTE=Inigo Montoya] I have to admit that it’s unusual here for snow to turn into an ice sheet on your car. [/QUOTE] As a rule, you’re right, it doesn’t happen here. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen elsewhere. You forget that Denver has a perfect climate. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651/109 "2007-02-24T02:08:49Z")
> [@Necros](#): > > I really do think that the difference is that our snow is different here. It tends to blow off with no issues. As **Inigo** points out, this could well be so, owing to differences in weather patterns. The Northeast coastal areas tend to get a good deal of precipitation right around freezing point, so there’s the whole wonderful spectrum of slush/sleet/snow/ice to deal with on a regular basis. > [@Necros](#): > > If I wanted to be overly cynical, my guess is that we don’t have laws about it here because everyone just freaking deals with it, as opposed to throwing a whiny drama queen East Coaster fit about it. How do you expect a driver to “deal with” a slab of ice hitting his windshield at 50+ miles per hour, you self-centered fucktard? If I’m carrying a load of unsecured bricks on top of my car and one of them blows off and comes sailing through your windshield, would you be a whiny drama queen if you complained about it? Shithead. Endangering other drivers out of sheer lazy unwillingness to operate your vehicle with proper safety is not something that the other drivers should be expected just to “deal with”. Except perhaps by dealing with you by staking you out on the roadside, as recommended above, although I personally would consider full-bore rectal impalement more appropriate than mere crucifixion. Seriously, folks. If the snow in your area never turns into nasty dangerous automotive ice grenades, then good for lucky you, and you don’t need to worry so much about it. (Although it’s still pretty jerkish to drive around dumping **any** kind of substance off your roof, even a comparatively minor nuisance like fine powder snow, because it interferes with visibility for the cars behind you.) But if you **do** risk collecting ice bombs on your roof, then **clear off your goddamned car before you drive it**. Don’t pretend that the problem is merely other people “whining”. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651/110 "2007-02-24T04:42:16Z")
[QUOTE=Gorsnak] I would expect that any politician who tabled anti-warm-up-idling legislation in these parts would be lynched. [/QUOTE] Damn you, **Gorsnak** , I was just about to post the same thing. I don’t understand how they could do that. Seriously, I’ve started a vehicle and went driving immediately and I think I was dangerously close to getting frostbite from the cold wheel. You know when your fingers are in pain that you need to let the car run a little longer. It’s like a religious ritual in my family. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651/111 "2007-02-24T05:35:39Z")
[QUOTE=Necros] Weird. As I’ve mentioned before, I really do think that this “clear off your whole vehicle” thing is regional. No one here clears off their whole vehicle, and I’ve seen posters from Alaska mystified by the whole thing. My wife is from MN and she says no one there clears off their whole car, either. Is this just an East Cost quirk? [/QUOTE] I don’t think so. In NH we have a law that 100% of your **windows** must be cleared of snow and ice, but there’s nothing in the laws about the body of your car. I see snow covered cars (with cleared windows) all the time in the winter. I brush as much snow off mine as I can, but that’s mostly because it annoys me to have it blow up from the hood. ---
**Author:** ![zenith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zenith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zenith)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651/112 "2007-02-24T16:02:22Z")
In that my 5’ tall wife has managed, over the years, to clear roofs on 3 minivans and one Aztek, leaving no more than a 4-to-6" wide “Snowhawk” down the middle for me to get later, I have no sympathy for taller people who can’t clear a tall vehicle just as well as she can. A dwarf standing on an old 5-gallon paint pail can thoroughly clean a damn Cavalier, so what possible excuse could the 6’+ guy I saw getting out of said improperly cleaned Cavalier have? ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651/113 "2007-02-24T17:59:29Z")
[QUOTE=kushiel] Damn you, **Gorsnak** , I was just about to post the same thing. I don’t understand how they could do that. Seriously, I’ve started a vehicle and went driving immediately and I think I was dangerously close to getting frostbite from the cold wheel. You know when your fingers are in pain that you need to let the car run a little longer. It’s like a religious ritual in my family. [/QUOTE] There’s these newfangled gizmos they have that could help. Lessee, what’re they called? Oh, right - ‘gloves’. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651/114 "2007-02-24T22:25:18Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] There’s these newfangled gizmos they have that could help. Lessee, what’re they called? Oh, right - ‘gloves’. [/QUOTE] Silly BC person. In Saskatchewan it gets so cold our steering wheels give us frostbite right through our gloves! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651/115 "2007-02-24T22:27:45Z")
[QUOTE=Gorsnak] Silly BC person. In Saskatchewan it gets so cold our steering wheels give us frostbite right through our gloves! 😛 [/QUOTE] Hey! I used to live in Ottawa - the second coldest capital city on the planet after Ulan Bator. I used to walk to work due north in mid-January in -35 weather. I _know_ from gloves 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651/116 "2007-02-24T23:42:00Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] Clean off the fucking frost too. Nobody needs you on the road with no visability, because you didn’t clean your fuckinig frosted windows. [/QUOTE] Which is at least one reason why I take the snow off the roof of the car. If it doesn’t fly off and hit someone else, it’ll slide right down the windscreen when I brake :smack: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2007, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651/117 "2007-02-24T23:46:10Z")
Hey **Mama** , I’ve lived in some of the snowiest climates and never heard of this problem. Were we tailgating ? ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651/118 "2007-02-25T00:22:33Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] Hey! I used to live in Ottawa - the second coldest capital city on the planet after Ulan Bator. I used to walk to work due north in mid-January in -35 weather. I _know_ from gloves 😛 [/QUOTE] :dubious: So what the hell were you doing wearing gloves, then? Everybody knows that mittens hold the heat better. Unless you were wearing your mittens over your gloves, of course. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651/119 "2007-02-25T00:24:12Z")
> [@TFD](#): > > Hey Mama, I’ve lived in some of the snowiest climates and never heard of this problem. Maybe, as discussed above, it’s because the climates you lived in were cold and snowy enough not to get the kind of freeze/thaw/freeze/thaw/etc. winter weather that encourages the formation of ice sheets on cars. If it turns dry and cold before the first snowfall and essentially stays that way till spring, you’ll be shoveling and sweeping a lot of snow, but you won’t have those wet and slippery ice sheets to deal with because you’ll never see liquid water outdoors until April or May. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2007, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651/120 "2007-02-25T21:30:06Z")
[QUOTE=Kimstu] Maybe, as discussed above, it’s because the climates you lived in were cold and snowy enough not to get the kind of freeze/thaw/freeze/thaw/etc. winter weather that encourages the formation of ice sheets on cars. If it turns dry and cold before the first snowfall and essentially stays that way till spring, you’ll be shoveling and sweeping a lot of snow, but you won’t have those wet and slippery ice sheets to deal with because you’ll never see liquid water outdoors until April or May. [/QUOTE] I concur. We’re in the Mid-Atlantic region and we get a lot of snow that partly thaws, and refreezes into a solid mass - or that falls, and is topped off with sleet / freezing rain, instantly forming that solid mass. These are the ones that turn into windshield-shattering missiles. When we have a heavy snowfall that doesn’t get anywhere near thawing point, the danger posed is that it can blow off your car and onto the windshield of the one behind you - obscuring that driver’s vision until their windshield wipers can deal with the problem. Ice-sheet? You’re better off _tailgating_ such a car - its missile will get the car behind yours. Obviously this poses its own risks. Non-solid layer of snow? you’re better off leaving more distance so any snow that blows/falls off will hit the pavement, and not endanger you. Well, your car could slip n the blob of snow of course. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clear-the-fucking-snow-off-your-car/392651.md?page=5)