Whenever we get a major dump of snow, I see idiots driving around with a foot of snow on their cars and a tiny section of the windshield cleared – usually just on the driver’s side. As they drive, snow flies off. I know everybody is supposed to clear their windshields, but what about clearing the snow off the roof and hood? Is there a law against driving around with a ski hill on your car’s roof? – Clem, Vernon, B.C.
Brushing off your car isn’t something to, well, brush off, police said.
“Every driver is responsible for clearing the snow off all of their windows, mirrors, hood, roof and trunk,” RCMP Corporal Michael McLaughlin, a spokesman for B.C. Highway Patrol, said in an e-mail. “Even when it’s on the hood or roof, it can slide or blow onto a window at any time and obstruct your vision.”
In British Columbia, the law states that you cannot drive a vehicle if “the view of the driver to the front or sides of the vehicle is obstructed.” If you do, you risk a $109 fine and three demerit points.
So, if you got to your car the morning after a blizzard and barely brushed off just enough snow – or used your credit card to scrape off just enough frost – to sort of see the road, cops will notice, McLaughlin said.
“Every winter we see people who choose to dig a tiny circle into the pile of snow on the windshield of their vehicle and then think they are okay to drive,” McLaughlin said. “They are not. In police terms, we call that a ‘heat score,’” meaning a surefire way to draw unwanted attention from the police, “and it’s an obvious and easy way to get pulled over and fined.”
You can also be charged if you have snow obstructing your licence plates. That will net you a $230 fine in B.C.
Don’t forget the roof or hood, either. That’s to protect yourself and others.
If snow is blowing off your car’s roof or hood, you could be charged with driving with an unsecured load and face a $173 fine, McLaughlin said.
According to the law, nothing can “leak, spill, blow off, fall from, fall through or otherwise be dislodged from the vehicle.”
And if enough snow blows off your car to cause another car to crash – or if you caused a crash because you couldn’t see through your windshield – you could also be charged with careless driving, McLaughlin said. That warrants a $196 fine and six demerit points.
“My advice to drivers is to get a $5 snow brush and a pair of gloves,” McLaughlin said. “Be safe and avoid the fine.”
But what if you start your drive with a clean car and then it starts snowing?
“If snow accumulates while you’re driving, that would be a lawful excuse for having snow on your vehicle,” McLaughlin said. “It’s also very unlikely that a moving vehicle will accumulate snow.”
‘A hazard for yourself and others’
The laws vary by province. While every province requires drivers to be able to see the road, only some ban snow or ice flying off a non-commercial vehicle.
In Alberta, for instance, “there are no laws that pertain to snow [flying off] passenger vehicles,” but police could lay charges if snow was flying off a semi-truck, Corporal Troy Savinkoff, an Alberta RCMP spokesman, said in an e-mail.
Quebec’s law, meanwhile, specifically bans driving with “snow, ice or any other matter that may detach from the vehicle.” It’s a minimum $100 fine and applies to all vehicles, said Sûreté du Québec, Quebec’s provincial police force.
Although Ontario’s law banning unsecured loads doesn’t mention snow, it is included, said Sean Shapiro, a safety consultant and retired Toronto traffic cop.
“It depends on the officer that you’re dealing with because some won’t charge you for having an insecure load – but I absolutely did,” Shapiro said, adding that it’s a $130 fine for non-commercial vehicles. “You don’t have to be responsible for initially putting the load on the car … but by not clearing it, you are creating a hazard for yourself and other drivers.”
Even if the snow on your roof doesn’t blow off and hit another car, it could slide onto your windshield and block your view, Shapiro said.
“Once the vehicle starts to warm up, you get this wonderful layer of water that builds up between the snow and it turns into a sheet of ice,” Shapiro said. “Then when you apply your brakes, that entire load of snow and ice on top of your vehicle can slide forward onto the windshield and blind you.”
Bad habits
Plenty of drivers need to brush up on all the rules around winter driving, Shapiro said.
For instance, if roads are snowy or icy or if visibility is limited, you can be charged with speeding even if you’re going the posted speed limit.
“Here’s the thing: Speed limits are for ideal driving conditions,” Shapiro said. “People tend to think ‘the speed limit is 60 kilometres an hour so I can go 60′ and then they smack into a tree.”
Instead, you should be driving to the road conditions, he said.
That also means leaving enough space between your vehicle and the car in front of you so you don’t hit them if they brake suddenly, Shapiro said.
Other bad habits, including distracted driving, are even more dangerous in the winter because you and the cars around you have reduced control and braking ability.
“Stopping distances expand, so you need more space to slow down and stop,” Shapiro said. “Everything you know about your vehicle [under ideal driving conditions] goes out the window.”
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