Did You Know That Driving With Snow On Your Car Is Illegal In 11 States?

Southern Living ^ | Jan 10, 2025 | Meghan Overdeep Meghan Overdeep, Senior Staff Writer Meghan Overdeep Meghan Overdeep has more than a

[where's_the_Outrage?]

It doesn’t matter how big of a rush you’re in, you should always take the extra time to clear snow and ice from the roof of your car before pulling it out of the driveway. It might seem harmless, but driving a car with remnants of that winter storm on it is so dangerous that it’s been made illegal in 11 states.

Keep reading to find out why you should never drive with snow or ice on your car.

Don’t stop at your windshield. For your safety and the safety of other motorists, you should always, always remove snow and ice from the entirety of your car prior to driving it. That hunk of frozen snow on the roof of your car might not bother you, but it can pose a danger to other drivers on the road as well as a serious risk to your visibility.........

It is mandated by law to clear ice and snow from a vehicle before driving it in the following states:

Alaska

Connecticut

Georgia

Massachusetts

Michigan

New Hampshire

New Jersey

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

Tennessee

Wisconsin

In these states, a fine or even a misdemeanor can result whether or not a driver causes harm to another driver.

[airborne]

By law, the driver of the vehicle is responsible and liable.

[Revel]

I don’t know the exact text of these laws, but it would be ridiculous to not condition them with more detail than just snow on your car. Obviously there is a type and level where it is dangerous to other vehicles. But an inch of powder snow is not. And during a snow storm cars can acquire snow during driving.

[dagunk]

I’m running my truck right now to melt the 4 inches of snow off the windshield after which I’m going to cover it with something so the windshield won’t be frozen over in the morning when it’s 15 degrees. THIS IS IN SOUTH ALABAMA!!!

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Moved from Las Vegas Nevada to Kansas. First night in Kansas a big ice storm came through, left 3/4 to 1 inch of ice on the car. You think we have scrapers etc?? NO!!

Sat in the car for 45 minutes thawing it out.

[Peter ODonnell]

In Canada it is such a serious offense that the penalty is to watch South Park.

[suthener]

“I feel for you. In South Alabama there probably aren’t enough H1B’s to clean the snow off all of those cars. LOL”

No, we have Mehicans and Gatamilians. They all work at the plant nurseries.

[shotgun]

I’m the same way. Sweep off the whole car. If it snows overnight, I start shoveling and sweeping snow as soon as I get up.

When I lived in Fulton,NY I was the only tenant at my apartment (large house that was converted to 5 apartments) that cleaned my portion of the driveway and shoveled out a path to my mailbox.

[b4me]

Once drove home from work in snow that was accumulating on my car as I drove. Had to get out to clear windshield and wipers frequently because they couldn’t keep up even with defroster on full. No cops to be seen. I think it was state of emergency but I needed to get back to where I was pet sitting for night.

[shotgun]

I had the same thing happen to me. I was driving through Wyoming at night and the next thing I knew was it was like someone through a bucket of snow on my windshield. I was 90 miles from Laramie and could only manage to drive 10 mph. I had to stop and clean my head lights off every few minutes. Thankfully it let up after about 20 miles.

It was a an actual blizzard with whiteout conditions. I had no idea where the road was and the semi-trucks would just blow past me. I had pulled as far off on the shoulder as I could get. Thinking about that now I’m lucky I didn’t get smashed from behind.