OT: Snow Removal From Your Car Before Driving

[Chin Diesel]

I'm finishing up another trip home to Connecticut.

Was fortunate enough to see the snow and enjoy winter. Cue the Progressive commercial. I got to shovel the driveway three times over the weekend.

I am somewhere between interested, curious, and intrigued at the different levels of effort Nutmeggers put in to cleaning snow off of car before they hit the road.

There is a range from pristine cleaning of frint windshield down to barely a square big enough to see through. Some leave the snow on the roof, some don't bother cleaning off the passenger side. Some don't clean the rear window, they just let the wiper or rear defrost do what they can.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

So being 3 seconds back should solve the problem.

Also, the ice will be moving the same direction as the car until it comes off. It does not go backwards, and will probably even go a little further in the direction it was already going, making a football field gap even safer.

Stay back, and a lot of problems are solved.

 

[Ewekon]

my car has remote start and defrost on the app which is pretty decent.

Gen Z or millennial?

 

[Duncan Idaho]

My mother swears by this. I've never understood why not just use a push broom. Works fine for me.

Have one with soft bristles. works great.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Lolz, that's not at all how it works.

Just stop being selfish and clean off your car.

As I have said in two posts in this thread, I park in a garage. No snow on my car.

I also don't tailgate. Snow on the car in front of you damaging your car is the not close to the most likely things that will go wrong when you are tailgating the car in front of you.

 

[Dutch Boyd]

3 inches is not very much snow. A driver should also be far enough behind the car in front of them that the front car's rear bumper can fall off and the rear driver won't hit it. 3 seconds is the rule of thumb for the distance between you and the car in front of you, and if the roads are even a little tricky, 4 seconds is more appropriate. If they are going to enforce a couple of inches of snow on the roof of the car, they should use AI to track tailgating. If every car on the Merritt one morning gets a ticket, then that is the way it goes.

I looked up the NH law, and that involved a situation with a truck, which is a bit different.

Not at all surprised by this response from you. Just clean the snow off your car instead of being a tool. Just a hunch, Subaru? By the way you interact on here, I can definitely see you driving around with snow on your car and blaming everyone else. Cool

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Not at all surprised by this response from you. Just clean the snow off your car instead of being a tool. Just a hunch, Subaru? By the way you interact on here, I can definitely see you driving around with snow on your car and blaming everyone else. Cool

Up to post 4 of me saying I PARK MY CAR IN A GARAGE.

Three pages into a thread justifying tailgating, and you jump in. Why do you think you have a right to tailgate?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I am not sure which is worse about this thread, about a dozen posters trying to justify their tailgating, or the fact that so few of you understand the simple math and physics of driving.

Did you guys actually go to UConn?

@Ha Who had a good post showing how it was extremely unlikely that ice could do any damage to your car if you were driving a safe distance behind the car in front of you, and he took it down. Is there a single poster in this thread that can out math me on this?

I barely passed business calculus my freshman year, which was the last actual math class I took. It was on the other end of campus at 8 am, so I didn't go. That was over 30 years ago. So you have to either be totally wrong or really suck at math if you can't out-math me on this.

 

[HooperScooper]

So being 3 seconds back should solve the problem.

Also, the ice will be moving the same direction as the car until it comes off. It does not go backwards, and will probably even go a little further in the direction it was already going, making a football field gap even safer.

Stay back, and a lot of problems are solved.

I have to disagree with this. A few weeks ago I was on the highway and a big sheet of ice came off a SUV that was very far in front of me, maybe 200-250 feet. The sheet of ice was twisting and turning up in the air for what seemed like 7-8 seconds. I was trying to determine where it was going to land. Luckily there wasn’t a lot of traffic so I had the ability to switch into a lane where it wasn’t going to land. But it was pretty scary trying to dodge a piece of ice that big when I didn’t know where it was going. If it hit my car there would have been damage. If it hit my windshield, well I’m sure it would have been no bueno.

 

[Ha Who]

I have to disagree with this. A few weeks ago I was on the highway and a big sheet of ice came off a SUV that was very far in front of me, maybe 200-250 feet. The sheet of ice was twisting and turning up in the air for what seemed like 7-8 seconds. I was trying to determine where it was going to land. Luckily there wasn’t a lot of traffic so I had the ability to switch into a lane where it wasn’t going to land. But it was pretty scary trying to dodge a piece of ice that big when I didn’t know where it was going. If it hit my car there would have been damage. If it hit my windshield, well I’m sure it would have been no bueno.

Yes, we’ve all seen this. He’s got to give it up. You should see the formulas that AI spits out explaining how far the ice will travel. But I don’t wanna bore you all with physics.

 

[superjohn]

I have to disagree with this. A few weeks ago I was on the highway and a big sheet of ice came off a SUV that was very far in front of me, maybe 200-250 feet. The sheet of ice was twisting and turning up in the air for what seemed like 7-8 seconds. I was trying to determine where it was going to land. Luckily there wasn’t a lot of traffic so I had the ability to switch into a lane where it wasn’t going to land. But it was pretty scary trying to dodge a piece of ice that big when I didn’t know where it was going. If it hit my car there would have been damage. If it hit my windshield, well I’m sure it would have been no bueno.

Now imagine it's a large chunk of ice coming off the top of a semi far ahead of you in a different lane. Everyone is driving 75 mph, you have nowhere to go and the ice is twisting in the wind and jumps the lane over into the fast lane where you are and smashes into your windshield.

People like Waylon are selfish and people die every year because of this type of selfishness. I got lucky with just a huge crack in my windshield but it was incredibly scary.

 

[Dutch Boyd]

I am not sure which is worse about this thread, about a dozen posters trying to justify their tailgating, or the fact that so few of you understand the simple math and physics of driving.

Did you guys actually go to UConn?

@Ha Who had a good post showing how it was extremely unlikely that ice could do any damage to your car if you were driving a safe distance behind the car in front of you, and he took it down. Is there a single poster in this thread that can out math me on this?

I barely passed business calculus my freshman year, which was the last actual math class I took. It was on the other end of campus at 8 am, so I didn't go. That was over 30 years ago. So you have to either be totally wrong or really suck at math if you can't out-math me on this.

Or you can just clean your car off instead of lacking self awareness and arguing with people just to argue being that you park in a garage, lol. Going through the comments, nobody is justifying tailgating. As i stated above, not surprised by your responses. Unfortunately there are many selfish people lacking self awareness wondering around this planet.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I have to disagree with this. A few weeks ago I was on the highway and a big sheet of ice came off a SUV that was very far in front of me, maybe 200-250 feet. The sheet of ice was twisting and turning up in the air for what seemed like 7-8 seconds. I was trying to determine where it was going to land. Luckily there wasn’t a lot of traffic so I had the ability to switch into a lane where it wasn’t going to land. But it was pretty scary trying to dodge a piece of ice that big when I didn’t know where it was going. If it hit my car there would have been damage. If it hit my windshield, well I’m sure it would have been no bueno.

200 feet is not that far back, a little over 2 seconds depending on how fast you were going. It is also physically difficult for a sheet of ice to stay airborne for 7 seconds unless it was a gale force wind or the car was going really fast. A really strong wind or a really fast car could lift a sheet that is big enough to catch the wind but not so big that it would be too heavy to not reach terminal velocity very quickly. And if the wind was strong enough to keep a big sheet of ice airborne, it is likely going to pull it left or right and or break it in the air. This is a tail end of the distribution case.

I am not saying that someone should have 6 inches of ice on their roof, but I am saying that a driver can do a lot to mitigate the risk of getting hit. If the car in front of you has an inch or less of snow on it, it is really unlikely that you could get in trouble behind it. Something would have to go really wrong to hit you if you were 4 seconds, which is about 120 yards, back.

Trucks are a different story. They are already taller, so anything coming off them is going up quite a bit before it comes down. All the more reason not to tailgate.

Alternatively, you are MUCH more likely to cause an accident if you are regularly driving less than 200 feet behind the car in front of you, especially in the winter, than you are to be hit by snow coming off another car if you are over 100 yards back. Probably 10x as likely.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Or you can just clean your car off instead of lacking self awareness and arguing with people just to argue being that you park in a garage, lol. Going through the comments, nobody is justifying tailgating. As i stated above, not surprised by your responses. Unfortunately there are many selfish people lacking self awareness wondering around this planet.

Post #5 saying I park in a garage.

You are absolutely trying to justify tailgating.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Now imagine it's a large chunk of ice coming off the top of a semi far ahead of you in a different lane. Everyone is driving 75 mph, you have nowhere to go and the ice is twisting in the wind and jumps the lane over into the fast lane where you are and smashes into your windshield.

People like Waylon are selfish and people die every year because of this type of selfishness. I got lucky with just a huge crack in my windshield but it was incredibly scary.

Why are you defending tailgating?

 

[uconnfan68]

Since this has turned into a shaming thread, I am going to circle back to tailgating in cold weather. A 3 second gap with the car in front of you is not enough when there are even small patches of ice on the road and the car behind you is likely tailgating you. You can't just slam on the brakes because the car behind you will hit you, so you need enough space to slow down without causing a pileup. 4 seconds should be a minimum. If cars cut in front of you, then they cut in front of you.

Since anyone who drives anywhere will see cars very close to each other while moving at 50+ mph on the highway, very few people follow this standard defensive driving practice.

This is why I've taken to staying in the right lane on most highways these days. Tired of being passed on left and right while doing 75-80.

 

[Dutch Boyd]

Post #5 saying I park in a garage.

You are absolutely trying to justify tailgating.

Sure thing, Nelson

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Yes, we’ve all seen this. He’s got to give it up. You should see the formulas that AI spits out explaining how far the ice will travel. But I don’t wanna bore you all with physics.

Bore us. Explain why staying back 4 seconds in the winter is a bad idea.

 

[Ha Who]

Bore us. Explain why staying back 4 seconds in the winter is a bad idea.

In practice, ice sheets often:

• Catch air and glide upward, increasing hang time.
• Break into pieces that flutter, staying airborne longer.
• Get lifted by the slipstream, sometimes rising 10–20 feet.


If the ice stays airborne for even 1 second, it can travel:

88 \text{ ft/s} \approx 6 \text{ car lengths}


If it gets lofted for 2 seconds, that’s:

176 \text{ ft} \approx 12 \text{ car lengths}


This is why ice from a car roof can hit vehicles hundreds of feet behind in extreme cases.

If you want the formula behind this, I can give it to you

 

[Ha Who]

If the ice lifts even a little — say 3 feet into the air — the fall time is about:

t = \sqrt{\frac{2h}{g}} \approx \sqrt{\frac{2 \cdot 3}{32}} \approx 0.43 \text{ seconds}


Horizontal distance traveled

At 60 mph, your car (and the ice) are moving:

60 \text{ mph} = 88 \text{ ft/s}


So in 0.43 seconds, the ice travels:

88 \cdot 0.43 \approx 38 \text{ feet}

 

[Dutch Boyd]

Waylon doesn't give a c^^p about other people on the roads, I'm absolutely shocked.

Waylon continuing to make the thread about himself while claiming he's not selfish, I'm doubly

Bore us. Explain why staying back 4 seconds in the winter is a bad idea.

Tell us you drive slow in the fast lane without telling us. Maybe stop living in tunnel vision and you won’t be so angry. Also, when did you become Waylon, lmaoooo? Fill me in

 

[HooperScooper]

200 feet is not that far back, a little over 2 seconds depending on how fast you were going. It is also physically difficult for a sheet of ice to stay airborne for 7 seconds unless it was a gale force wind or the car was going really fast. A really strong wind or a really fast car could lift a sheet that is big enough to catch the wind but not so big that it would be too heavy to not reach terminal velocity very quickly. And if the wind was strong enough to keep a big sheet of ice airborne, it is likely going to pull it left or right and or break it in the air. This is a tail end of the distribution case.

I am not saying that someone should have 6 inches of ice on their roof, but I am saying that a driver can do a lot to mitigate the risk of getting hit. If the car in front of you has an inch or less of snow on it, it is really unlikely that you could get in trouble behind it. Something would have to go really wrong to hit you if you were 4 seconds, which is about 120 yards, back.

Trucks are a different story. They are already taller, so anything coming off them is going up quite a bit before it comes down. All the more reason not to tailgate.

Alternatively, you are MUCH more likely to cause an accident if you are regularly driving less than 200 feet behind the car in front of you, especially in the winter, than you are to be hit by snow coming off another car if you are over 100 yards back. Probably 10x as likely.

It was probably more than 200 feet since as you said that's about 2 seconds at 65 mph. And the ice was up in the air twisting and turning for a lot more than 2 seconds. But you just like to argue. About everything. I'm curious, are you retired and this is your entertainment?

I have a 360 degree camera on my new car so next time this happens I will download the 20 second video and try to post it so you can determine if I was driving at a safe distance behind a car. I don't know how to do it yet but I'll figure it out. Smh.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

This is why I've taken to staying in the right lane on most highways these days. Tired of being passed on left and right while doing 75-80.

I know this makes me sound old, but I have really dialed back my approach to driving in the last 10 years. I turn on the adaptive cruise control when I get on the highway, and view it as a failure of my driving if I have to tap the brakes before I get off the highway. If someone wants to pass, I move over to the right lane and they pass, and if my car feels the car in front of it slowing down, then I slow down automatically. I do all I can to avoid getting near any car. An extra 5 mph is not going to save me enough time to justify the risk of getting right up to someone else's bumper.

 

[Chuck]

This is an odd thread. Here are my 2 cents:

• Clean your roof. It's the law in my state (NJ) and it's dangerous if it turns to ice. Being 5 car lengths back at 50mph is totally reasonable, but you can still get hit with flying ice. That's not using math... it's happened to me and it's scary. That being said, we can be reasonable. I don't always clean the roof when there's an inch of fluffy snow up there. It's gone by the time I get off my street.
• Tailgating in icy conditions is a problem. Most all wheel drive cars and SUVs are pretty good at driving forward, but no better at stopping than any other car. Don't feel invincible because you have an expensive AWD SUV.

Nelson is right that tailgating is bad. The rest of the gang is right that ice on the roof is bad regardless of tailgating.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

It was probably more than 200 feet since as you said that's about 2 seconds at 65 mph. And the ice was up in the air twisting and turning for a lot more than 2 seconds. But you just like to argue. About everything. I'm curious, are you retired and this is your entertainment?

I have a 360 degree camera on my new car so next time this happens I will download the 20 second video and try to post it so you can determine if I was driving at a safe distance behind a car. I don't know how to do it yet but I'll figure it out. Smh.

I am arguing, but not for the sake of arguing. 300+ feet is the right distance to be back on the highway. There is some percentage chance that all kinds of bad stuff can still happen, but if you are regularly driving under 200 feet back from the car in front of you at highway speeds, especially in the northeast in the winter, you are taking a huge chance, and you are endangering everyone else on the road.

 

[Dutch Boyd]

This is an odd thread. Here are my 2 cents:

• Clean your roof. It's the law in my state (NJ) and it's dangerous if it turns to ice. Being 5 car lengths back at 50mph is totally reasonable, but you can still get hit with flying ice. That's not using math... it's happened to me and it's scary. That being said, we can be reasonable. I don't always clean the roof when there's an inch of fluffy snow up there. It's gone by the time I get off my street.
• Tailgating in icy conditions is a problem. Most all wheel drive cars and SUVs are pretty good at driving forward, but no better at stopping than any other car. Don't feel invincible because you have an expensive AWD SUV.

Nelson is right that tailgating is bad. The rest of the gang is right that ice on the roof is bad regardless of tailgating.

Definitely an odd thread. Nelson’s original comment was 3 inches of snow doesn’t matter, BUT he parks in a garage. He’s justifying that lazy, selfish people shouldn’t have to clean their car if people didn’t tailgate. He’s arguing just to argue. Both are bad and nobody is justifying tailgating is good. Blaming others for their own laziness is a typical example of the internet we live in.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

This is an odd thread. Here are my 2 cents:

• Clean your roof. It's the law in my state (NJ) and it's dangerous if it turns to ice. Being 5 car lengths back at 50mph is totally reasonable, but you can still get hit with flying ice. That's not using math... it's happened to me and it's scary. That being said, we can be reasonable. I don't always clean the roof when there's an inch of fluffy snow up there. It's gone by the time I get off my street.
• Tailgating in icy conditions is a problem. Most all wheel drive cars and SUVs are pretty good at driving forward, but no better at stopping than any other car. Don't feel invincible because you have an expensive AWD SUV.

Nelson is right that tailgating is bad. The rest of the gang is right that ice on the roof is bad regardless of tailgating.

5 car lengths is (5x16) 80 feet back. That is less than 1 second. Unless you are a top gun pilot or a F1 driver, none of our reactions are nearly fast enough to be that close. 3 seconds (about 260 feet) is a minimum in good weather, 4 seconds in the winter, and if you have a new car, you can set your adaptive cruise control so you don't even have to think of it.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Definitely an odd thread. Nelson’s original comment was 3 inches of snow doesn’t matter, BUT he parks in a garage. He’s justifying that lazy, selfish people shouldn’t have to clean their car if people didn’t tailgate. He’s arguing just to argue. Both are bad and nobody is justifying tailgating is good. Blaming others for their own laziness is a typical example of the internet we live in.

Are you saying that I am too lazy to park outside?

I am saying, several times in this thread, that tailgating is at least 10x more likely to result in a crash than a little snow coming off someone's car. I also never said I don't clean my car off. So getting righteous about something that is really unlikely to happen (a sheet of ice from a car with a couple of inches of snow in a few spots flying off a car and hitting someone over a football field back) and ignoring something that happens all over the place, every single day (rear ending someone on the highway because a driver is following too close), is the definition of arguing for the sake of arguing.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Cool, now quit being selfish and clear the snow and ice off your car.

I park in a garage. #6 time.

 

[superjohn]

I also never said I don't clean my car off.

Such a weird thing to lie about.

 

[Chuck]

5 car lengths is (5x16) 80 feet back. That is less than 1 second. Unless you are a top gun pilot or a F1 driver, none of our reactions are nearly fast enough to be that close. 3 seconds (about 260 feet) is a minimum in good weather, 4 seconds in the winter, and if you have a new car, you can set your adaptive cruise control so you don't even have to think of it.

I learned the 1 car length for every 10mph rule in driver's ed. Doesn't mean it's still the standard because that was 35 years ago, but I looked it up and it's still used. I absolutely love the adaptive cruise control. That, the lane correction tech and blind spot warnings are life changing.