Finally!!!! No more dodging snow while driving on slippery NJ highways. I just hope they enforce hell out of this law. It's amazing how some common sense things like cleaning your car before driving have to become law. "Legislation requiring both commercial and non-commercial drivers to remove snow and ice from their vehicle was signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Jon Corzine." I'm not allowed to post URL so if you want whole story please google "N.J. motorists must remove snow from their vehicles, law states" and you will find it.
“At the least, snow or ice falling from a vehicle may impair visibility for other drivers or shatter a windshield. At the worst, it could take a life.” Your snow and ice on vehicles must be substantially different that what I'm accustomed to on the other side of the continent. While obstructed windows are a serious visibility risk for the original vehicle, a burst of powder or slush flying off that vehicle here appears to be a visibility risk only to serious tailgaters. The only windshield breakage risk I've faced was from a wall of snow and ice intentionally thrown over the center divider of I-70 by an oncoming Colorado DOT snowplow, at freeway speed, from about 50 to 75 feet above my lane. With the corner and other traffic, I didn't have sufficient warning to safely change lanes, fortunately no breakage occurred. Though numerous lives have been lost to flying debris here, I'm aware only of incidents involving other objects -- rocks, truck tires, dropped furniture and other loads. In what other geographies is dropped snow and ice a real hazard?
Good! I wish they bring that law here to MA. I've seen so many idiots who wipe off just enough of the windshield to see through to what's straight ahead, and then they hope that driving fast on the highway and blasting the defroster will melt the rest. Limited visibility and driving fast are not a good combo.
I'm sorry, you're expecting NJ police to enforce traffic laws? Ha. IMO this was already illegal under the state's reckless and careless driving statutes (NJS 39:4-96,97), but it's an election year.... As far as fatalities, yes they have occurred, mainly from tractor-trailers with that type of snow that has a top layer of ice. NJ's original snow removal law (which applies only if property or people were hurt) was enacted after a fatality, about 10-15 years ago.
