Illegal?!?!

[Jay FX4]

Funny how in all my years of driving, in all different types of vehicles and in some of the worst snow imaginable, I've never had snow build up on my vehicles while I'm driving. I guess I'm just lucky, eh?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Funny how in all my years of driving, in all different types of vehicles and in some of the worst snow imaginable, I've never had snow build up on my vehicles while I'm driving. I guess I'm just lucky, eh?

I have had it happen, I wouldn't really call it snow though, it is more of a slushy accumulation.

 

[Jay FX4]

I'm just saying that lazy asses that can't take 1.3 seconds to wipe the snow off their license plate deserve tickets.

 

[97RangerXLT]

I'm just saying that lazy asses that can't take 1.3 seconds to wipe the snow off their license plate deserve tickets.

I have had snow accumulate on the back of my cars a few times. usually it is when it is snowing and it is wet. the car or trucks aerodynamics suck it back onto the truck and it will put a nice white blanket on the whole backside.

This is different from not cleaning snow that has fallen and built up on your car overnight or at work when it was parked.

I have had this build up occur going less than 10 miles down the interstate, and it is unreasonable and dangerous to stop the car every few minutes to clean the plate off in this situation.

As for snow accumulating overnight, yes I agree, clean it off!

 

[97RangerXLT]

Happens all the time, especially with wet sticky snow.

I can tell you that on the Ranger, driving while it's snowing, under certain conditions, snow will accumulate/stick to the whole rear end, and end up sticking to/covering the whole tailgate and the rear lights, license plate, rear bumper etc. even though the rest of the truck is snow free - and altermatively I've also had the truck completely covered in snow after driving through a snowstorm.

I think that the law in most jurisdictions in Canada and the US state that the rear licence plates must be visible and unimpeded - that would cover hitches, cargo and anything else including snow. Most officers, though, would have enough common sense to give a warning (rather than a ticket), especially when it's been snowing heavily.

Most people would fight a ticket issued under those circumstances, and probably get the case thrown out after explaining (e.g. "I cleaned the plates, but the snow was so heavy it must have covered them back up after I started driving".)

BTW, in my opinion, it's better to receive a warning than a ticket.

yep, this is exactly what I was talking about in the above post.

AJ

 

[5speedin2.3]

I'm just saying that lazy asses that can't take 1.3 seconds to wipe the snow off their license plate deserve tickets.

x2

I have a nice sized dent on my hood and a cracked grille because some asshole didn't clean the snow/ice off the top of his van. I always make sure I clean all of the snow off my truck. Even the slush out of the wheel wells.

I had a cover on my plate and snow ALWAYS stuck to it. One day I got pulled over and the cop said "I bet you get pulled over a lot, you should get rid of that tinted cover on your plate."
True story, I took the cover off and rarely get pulled over now.

 

[West]

Funny how in all my years of driving, in all different types of vehicles and in some of the worst snow imaginable, I've never had snow build up on my vehicles while I'm driving. I guess I'm just lucky, eh?/QUOTE]

I've had it happen on my '96 Ranger, '97 Subaru Legacy, seen it happen on my brother's '96 Dodge Ram, and on my Mom's '08 Toyota Highlander.

It has always happened when I drive down the highway in a snow storm. The way the wind circulates behind the vehicle makes it cling to the back of the vehicle.

But with the parked overnight deal, it should be wiped clean.

 

[mattpresley]

I'm just saying that lazy asses that can't take 1.3 seconds to wipe the snow off their license plate deserve tickets.

I dont know what to say. I never lived where it snowed except the rare inch I got this winter in mississippi. I drove maybe 20 miles that day doing a good 15 mph

 

[TRX501RYAN]

Snow buildup on my tail gate from about a 30 mile trip back from town to home, in a storm...

 

[Jay FX4]

Funny how in all my years of driving, in all different types of vehicles and in some of the worst snow imaginable, I've never had snow build up on my vehicles while I'm driving. I guess I'm just lucky, eh?

.

 

[AllanD]

I'm just saying that lazy asses that can't take 1.3 seconds to wipe the snow off their license plate deserve tickets.

Ok, let me get this straight... it's 2:45AM and you are two TIME ZONES
from home, you've been driving for 20-some hours with only short rests
and for the last three with your hubs locked and the 4x4 light glowing at you.

It's a balmy 14degF and snow is falling at 3" an hour in the 45mph winds (gusting to 70mph)

Your heater has been on full blast for hours yet several bottles of water you left in the back seat (supercab area) of the truck have managed to FREEZE...

And you call it "lazy" to not scrape the snow off?

I'm inclined to say the same thing to you that I'd say to the cop
if the cop's licence plate wasn't as snow free as he wanted mine to be.

Anyone remember Drew Carey as a standup cmoedian?

He had a line where he suggested running stop signs in heavy rain?
The Cop would ask "Do you know why I stopped you?"
Answer: "Yup I ran a Stop sign. Do YOU know why I ran it officer?"


That being said I remember STOPPING in the LEFT lane of I-25, getting out of my truck and wiping off the headlamps and tail lamps and getting back into my truck and continuing at the same 25mph speed I had been maintaining for the previous two hours... in 4x4... in LOW Range... with the hubs locked.

I only stopped because the snow accumulation had completely blocked
the headlamps.

10pm Mountain time on christmas eve 2007, "Northbound" on I-25 somewhere between Glendo and Douglas, Wyoming. I put "Northbound" in quotes because for that stretch I-25 runs almost perfectly east & west, not north & south

what a "lovely" evening.

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[Jay FX4]

Let me make myself clear.....

What I'm saying is that if a person can't clean off the plate before they start driving, yes, they deserve a ticket - and a beating. Although there's no excuse for it - it really gets under my skin because I was out there this past winter, one of the worst in Michigan in many years, with 2 ruptured discs in my back and I still brushed the snow off my entire truck every day. When I'm in sub zero temps in excruciating pain and in a foot of snow doing what I'm supposed to be doing, I want to murder the jackass losers who have a foot of snow piled up on their entire car. I can't tell you how many people I see every winter with only the windshield clear. Side windows, back window loaded with whatever amount of snow happened to fall. People driving around with snow flying off their cars, creating their own personal snowstorms, oblivious of the havoc they wreak on other responsible drivers.
My point is the vehicle should be COMPLETELY free of snow before you even start driving. You can't argue that point.
Some people are disagreeing with me about snow accumulating on a moving vehicle. I can only speak for what I've seen with my own eyes, but I've never seen it happen. And Michigan can get some serious weather. Maybe the fact that my cars get 20 coats of wax and the fact that I remove all snow makes it so the falling snow has nothing to stick to, but I still have never seen it happen to any vehicle.
If your plate somehow gets covered while driving, no I don't expect you to stop just to clean it off.
My point is that if someone is in a 4x4 in a foot of snow, they can run that Dodge Intrepid off the road or fire off their .45 at at, drive off and get away with it because nobody is going to catch up to it...or see that license plate. And what if it's a woman? A woman is less likely to be able to identify the make or model of a truck, so unless they get a real good look at the driver, they might have NOTHING but the COLOR of the truck if someone commits a crime against them. Imagine if that was your mother or your sister, or your daughter, and you'll understand why it's not a joke.
So everybody can tell me to lighten up, stop ranting, talk junk about my long post. But yes, I am saying people who are too lazy to make their plate visible deserve a ticket.

 

[wrecking-crew]

who knew that lights above your roof were illegal in nj

 

[AllanD]

Wax? WTF is "wax"? and God's Navel! what does it have to do with a 4x4?

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[85_Ranger4x4]

The bad thing about that stuff is the blowing wind from the front keeps the truck clean, so until you stop you have no idea stuff is building on the back your rig.

Also the conditions are usually bad enough to do that nobody has a chance of getting the plate number anyway, and the cops are too busy with wrecks to worrry about taking a chance of getting wiped out on the side of the road to give a ticket on something so minor.

People that don't clean off their vehicles after a snow do need a ticket, that is plain stupid.