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]

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

And how far back did I say a car should be in the northeast in the winter? Over 100 yards. Is 176 feet more or less than 100+ yards?

BTW, it is clear that a lot of you tailgate dangerously, because I am the only one in the entire thread that had a what-the-fudge reaction to reading someone post that only 100 feet back from the car in front of you is acceptable on the highway, in the winter no less. Am I the only person in this thread that measures distance by seconds back?

 

[Ha Who]

And how far back did I say a car should be in the northeast in the winter? Over 100 yards. Is 176 feet more or less than 100+ yards?

BTW, it is clear that a lot of you tailgate dangerously, because I am the only one in the entire thread that had a what-the-fudge reaction to reading someone post that only 100 feet back from the car in front of you is acceptable on the highway, in the winter no less. Am I the only person in this thread that measures distance by seconds back?

I guess you don’t drive in Connecticut. Everyone else on this board has seen ice fly off of cars and shoot hundreds of feet. But I guess you know better. Maybe there’s an opening on real housewives of Salt Lake City for you

 

[nelsonmuntz]

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.

I learned 2 seconds back in driver's ed a long time ago, and that time incorporates my speed and the car in front of me's speed. Then my nieces and nephews took drivers ed about 10 years ago, and said the new standard was 3 seconds back. 3 feels better than 2.

I had family members that were/are EMT's and paramedics. They pointed out that most accidents involve someone going too fast, and about half involve following too close. By definition, if someone hits another car from behind, the car in the back was going too fast.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I guess you don’t drive in Connecticut. Everyone else on this board has seen ice fly off of cars and shoot hundreds of feet. But I guess you know better. Maybe there’s an opening on real housewives of Salt Lake City for you

Two questions:

1) Can you control what every other car on the road is doing at every second?

2) Can you control how close you get to the car in front of you?

Unless you control the Matrix, the answer to #1 is "no". And given the fact that you have no problem with driving within 100 feet of someone on the highway, you clearly tailgate, maybe you should focus on #2.

 

[JMick]

You are just picking a fight with me. My original comment was half a joke about people tailgating, which is a much more serious problem than a film of snow on top of the car. Also, I almost never have snow on top of my car because, I posted before this post quoted above, I park in a garage almost all the time.

Rather than engage in a performative shaming ritual that posters like you love, I was simply pointing out that tailgating in the winter in the northeast is a much bigger danger than a thin layer of snow on the top of the car that will melt off in about 10 minutes. Between ice patches on the roads, sand causing cars to slide, and snow and ice getting in tire treads, driving in the northeast after a snowstorm requires people to be more prudent than normal. You could take every flake of snow off your car and you will be the equivalent of a two ton missile if you are following within 3 seconds of the car in front of you after a snow storm or even a winter rain.

I am correct that something would have to go really wrong for any snow or even ice to come off a car and damage the car behind it unless the second car was tailgating.

Let's do some math. 60 mph is 1 mile a minute or 5280 feet per minute, so every second is 88 feet, almost 30 yards. That means 4 seconds is 352 feet, or 117 yards, on the highway. 3 seconds is 264 feet, or just under 90 yards. Even 2 seconds back is almost 60 yards. That is over half a football field.

Most importantly, ice does not levitate. It will hit the ground within a second of coming off the car. 2 seconds if it is a sheet and catches the wind just wrong. If you are 3 or 4 seconds back, none of that is your problem. If there is a lot of snow on the car in front of you, stay further back and slow down.

This is literally a 3 page thread about how to make tailgating safer. STOP TAILGATING and the snow won't be a problem.

It doesn't just go backwards. It can hit cars in other lanes.

I don't tailgate. Im a safe driver. Part of being a safe driver is ensuring your car is in proper condition for driving. That includes removing hazards from your vehicle.

 

[Ha Who]

Connecticut general statute 252A. Also known as the missile law

a) The operator of any noncommercial motor vehicle, as defined in section 14-1, shall remove any accumulated ice or snow from such motor vehicle, including the hood, trunk and roof of such motor vehicle, so that any ice or snow accumulated on such vehicle does not pose a threat to persons or property while the vehicle is being operated on any street or highway of this state. Any such operator who fails to remove accumulated ice or snow that poses such a threat shall be fined seventy-five dollars and shall be deemed to have committed an infraction.

 

[Ha Who]

https://www.cga.ct.gov/2010/act/pa/2010PA-00182-R00HB-05387-PA.htm#:~:text=In%20Connecticut%2C%20drivers%20must%20remove%20any%20snow,period%20of%20snow%2C%20sleet%2C%20or%20freezing%20rain

 

[Hey Adrien!]

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.

I drive a '09 Corolla, so I'm a huge fan of the "use the whole arm to clothesline the snow off the roof" kinda guy. Usually, I'll warm up the car for a solid ten minutes before cleaning up, makes it nice and smooth.

 

[HooperScooper]

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.

300 feet seems like an awfully far distance. That's an entire football field. Or more than 3 basketball courts. That's really far. Does anyone on here stay that far behind the car in front of you on the highway? Seems impossible to do unless you're in a very rural area with few cars on the road. Someone would always come into your lane in front of you and if you had to slow down every time to get back 300 feet behind the car that did that then the car behind you would be coming up on you. Seems dangerous and impossible to drive that way. I'm going to pay attention to the cars on the highway tomorrow to see if it can be done.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Connecticut general statute 252A. Also known as the missile law

a) The operator of any noncommercial motor vehicle, as defined in section 14-1, shall remove any accumulated ice or snow from such motor vehicle, including the hood, trunk and roof of such motor vehicle, so that any ice or snow accumulated on such vehicle does not pose a threat to persons or property while the vehicle is being operated on any street or highway of this state. Any such operator who fails to remove accumulated ice or snow that poses such a threat shall be fined seventy-five dollars and shall be deemed to have committed an infraction.

It is also illegal to tailgate, and you and most of the posters in this thread admit that you tailgate.

I park my car in a garage. #7 time I have mentioned that in this thread.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I have a strong suspicion that this is perilously close to becoming the most Boneyard thread ever.

 

[HooperScooper]

I have a strong suspicion that this is perilously close to becoming the most dumbest Boneyard thread ever.

FIFY. I think I'm done with this one. I'm putting it on Ignore. Seems pretty simple to me. Clean your car off before hitting the roads. There done. See you.

 

[Ha Who]

FIFY. I think I'm done with this one. I'm putting it on Ignore. Seems pretty simple to me. Clean your car off before hitting the roads. There done. See you.

Yeah, I’ve said all I have to say. Anyone with common sense who drives in Connecticut doesn’t tailgate because there’s a lot of sick people out there. Most of them are on this thread. Anyone with common sense also cleans off the roof of the car because they’ve seen the ice fly off of other cars.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

300 feet seems like an awfully far distance. That's an entire football field. Or more than 3 basketball courts. That's really far. Does anyone on here stay that far behind the car in front of you on the highway? Seems impossible to do unless you're in a very rural area with no cars on the road. Someone would always come into your lane in front of you and if you had to slow down every time to get back 300 feet behind the car that did that then the car behind you would be coming up on you. Seems dangerous and impossible to drive that way. I'm going to pay attention to the cars on the highway tomorrow to see if it can be done.

You can be moving with traffic at 65 or more and still be 3-4 seconds back. It is not a speed thing, it is keeping a safe distance. The car behind you can always pass. Actually, if you are back further from the car in front of you, it makes it easier for them to pass if they want to drive faster. Everyone wins.

I use adaptive cruise control all the time, and even use it on exit ramps. It speeds up the car and slows it down. I don't risk a ticket, and I never tailgate. Staying back has saved my ass several times. It can be something as random as the car in front of me slamming on the brakes because a deer is in the road. The extra second enables me to not slam on my brakes, but slow down under control.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

As miserable as the discussions regarding recent games have been, I think the weeks with no game might be worse.

 

[Excalibur]

God I do not miss any of this. It's 75 here today. The early morning chills and occasional 50 degree winter days give me all the cold I need.

The problem for me is that I hate drowning in my own sweat as much as I hate shivering like a Parkinson's patient. The snowbird life is calling . . .

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

The problem for me is that I hate drowning in my own sweat as much as I hate shivering like a Parkinson's patient. The snowbird life is calling . . .

One of the first things that struck me about Southern California is that I could wear a suit to court when it was 80 degrees out and I wouldn't sweat at all. I have a buddy who just moved out here from Rhode Island last summer and he was blown away that he wasn't sweating all summer.

 

[Skiblets]

When it comes to mojo tourney time I’m voting this thread and Nelson specifically for the hanging and the dude that manually marks the schedules with Ws and an L as the judge

 

[Fishy]

I have a garage, but I actually pile snow on my car before driving it.

Increases the R value of the roof and keeps the car warmer.

 

[Ha Who]

If we get a good storm this weekend, I’m gonna drive my 2007 Camry that I leave outside with 15 inches on my roof

 

[Fishy]

If we get a good storm this weekend, I’m gonna drive my 2007 Camry that I leave outside with 15 inches on my roof

Oh, you will be so toasty warm.

It’s the smart move.

 

[Skiblets]

 

[Fishy]

One of the first things that struck me about Southern California is that I could wear a suit to court when it was 80 degrees out and I wouldn't sweat at all. I have a buddy who just moved out here from Rhode Island last summer and he was blown away that he wasn't sweating all summer.

People have no idea that perfect weather exists and it’s in Southern California.

 

[Chin Diesel]

As miserable as the discussions regarding recent games have been, I think the weeks with no game might be worse.

I need something to pass the time on weeks when there is no weekday game.

Would you rather hear my irritation with how Americans have once again failed to show any ability to self-regulate conduct when it comes to the luggage carousel at airports?

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

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.

"Old" wasn't the word I had in mind.

Don't ever change.
(I wanted to say that 2 pages ago, and I wonder what awaits me before I catch up to the current end of this thread)

 

[nelsonmuntz]

You also don't clean off the roof of your car if there's three inches or less of snow and ice on it. That's selfish and dangerous, hopefully you now realize that and will clean off your car going forward.

Going 75 mph and driving 30 feet behind the car in front of you on the highway during a snowstorm is so dangerous it would get you a Reckless Driving ticket and cause you to lose your license in most states. You need to stop doing it immediately.

p.s. I park in a garage. (#8 time I have posted that)

 

[Excalibur]

One of the first things that struck me about Southern California is that I could wear a suit to court when it was 80 degrees out and I wouldn't sweat at all. I have a buddy who just moved out here from Rhode Island last summer and he was blown away that he wasn't sweating all summer.

Southern CA is a different animal entirely. If you’re moving for weather, that’s the place to be. Don’t why I assumed you were in FL (where the weather sucks 8 months out of the year).

 

[FreeKlaiber]

3 inches is my over/under to deal with snow on the roof. Less, and I feel like if someone is driving close enough behind me that snow coming off my car is a problem for them, they should stop tailgating.

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

I don't park in the spot right next to the building if it is in the shade, because I risk re-freezing whatever melting happened up to that point.

p.s. I park in a garage. (#8 time I have posted that)

confused/amused

 

[temery]

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}

Your math checks out. Did you use AI, or are you just smart?


Reminds me of:

"Teacher, am I ever going to use any of this math?"

"No, but some of the smart kids might."

 

[temery]

View attachment 116238

I vaguely remember a trucking company that put up a brush that all trucks had to drive under when leaving. It brushed all the snow off the top as they leave.