It seems like this is a topic that comes up every year, after the first few storms happen. People complain about having to dig out of their driveways and clear off their cars. We all know it's a pain in the rear. And some folks like to cut corners.

I'll admit it, when I first started driving and was in charge of removing the snow from my car (mind you I was a teenager) I used to cut corners to save time. I'd scrape a hole only as large as I needed to see out of, and clear what I could from the side windows, enough so I could get back and forth to work without hitting anyone. But then I started to read news stories about people being hit with frozen flying debris from the top of vehicles that hadn't been cleared, and started to see examples of just such things as I drove along, and my mind was changed.

Now, despite the extra time it may take, I take seriously the task of cleaning off ALL of my car, so my laziness doesn't become the reason why someone else doesn't make it home at the end of the day.

You think I'm being overdramatic? Just look at the picture the Brewer Police Department put on it's Facebook page this week--and the warning that went with it.

What's worse is that if you read down through the comment section of that post, you will see countless other stories of drivers experiencing the same thing recently. It's definitely a timely issue, and a danger that needs to be addressed.

Imagine that it was your kid, or your parent driving that car. The thing is, the person behind the wheel of the car that got smashed by the flying ice chunk IS someone's kid or parent. They count to someone, even if you don't know them. So take the extra few moments and make sure your vehicle is not only clear on the sides, but free from debris on the top.

We've all seen those cases, where we're driving along the interstate and sheets of ice are just flying off the vehicle in front of us, smashing on the road in front of us. As it stands right now, if one of those pieces were to hit your vehicle instead of the ground, and cause damage, you'd have no legal recourse. As it stands, while we have a law that says we have to clean up the snow and ice from the side of our cars and the windshield, there's nothing mentioned about clearing it from the top ... although lawmakers are trying to change that. 

Bottom line...clean your top. It's annoying and takes a little time. We all get that. But it's better to be annoyed and put out for a few minutes, than to injure someone, or worse yet, cost someone their life. That stays with you for a lifetime.

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