Did you know that it’s illegal to drive with ice and snow on your car in Pennsylvania? A small fine for not clearing your windows, but if you are found to have caused injury, or death because you didn’t clean the snow off your car, that’s a bit steeper, what with fines and jail and all.
We keep our cars in the garage, so that’s one chore we’ve gratefully averted in snowstorms. But we also have an old Taurus that we bought for the kids in high school, and that car sits in the driveway. Last week, after 10 inches of snow and spending hours clearing our long, long driveway, my husband was ready to take the old Taurus down to the cul-de-sac and brush it off.
The only purpose the cul-de-sac serves in a storm is a place for the township to gather all the snow at the end of the road, and to dump the Taurus’ top hat of accumulation, so we don’t have to clean the driveway again after Mother Nature did a spring binge and purge all over the Northeast.
Just as my husband rounds the bend and slowly gets to the end of our driveway, our local policeman pulls up in his cruiser and ends up face-to-face with the snow covered Taurus. It’s like a polar game of ‘chicken.’ Luckily, my husband knows the rules. He stops at the tippy end of the driveway, gets out of the Taurus, grabs the snow brush and very lackadaisically begins to brush bits of snow off the car.
Our gendarme sits there for a bit. C’mon we know what he’s thinking: “this guy was gonna’ take that car on the road without cleaning it off.” My husband just whistles a little tune, stops to light a mini cigar, like he does this little thing every day before his journey down the road. He keeps on scraping here, brushing there and finally the police car blinks. The cop pulls away and my husband gives him that ‘guy nod’ asserting “yeah, we’re cool.”
Giving enough time to be out of sight, my husband pulls the Taurus closer to the mail box and dumps the 10 inches of snow from the roof. He thinks he sees the police car sitting a bit down the street, no doubt waiting for the Taurus. But hubby just circles the cul-de-sac and drives back to the house.
I have no idea why my frozen spouse comes in through the garage with the grin of the Cheshire cat and arms raised like Rocky.
Then as we gather around the fireplace, with our hot coffee……. he tells me that he might need a lawyer.
“You Just have to Laugh….”
©2017 Cathy Sikorski
it’s rare we hear tales of an actual, smart dude.
I climb up on my sideboard to get that snow on my car roof. I was behind one of those high Lexuses that threw its snow and ice onto my windshield. She didn’t even stop. I applaud John’s creativity and hope the constables don’t stake him out after snowstorms! I won’t tell. I swear.
I know you won’t tell, but don’t spread it to LuLu and Frankie now that we know they hear everything!
LOL! We only have to drive to the end of our street but it’s always a treacherous short ride with that tiny patch of windshield cleared.
I was driving on 476 last Wednesday, the day after the storm and twice swerved to dodge huge pieces of ice that flew off the roofs of tractor trailers. THEY are who the cops should be stopping. If someone was in the other lane or if the ice hit me I could have been hurt or even killed.
Yes,and that’s why it’s illegal and truthfully, I think that’s where the law came from!
This makes me glad that I live in New York City, where having a car is more of a pain than a convenience, and I don’t even have to bother learning the rules of automobile maintenance in winter! LOL!
Oh, and I would have loved to see that exchange between your husband and the policeman. I would have high-fived him when he came back into the house! LOL!
I would’ve loved to see it too, but our driveway is 700 feet, so I had to settle for his version!
Haha! If he needs a lawyer I know someone I can recommend. ?
You know TWO lawyers! He’s covered!
Clearly, YOU are the lawyer he needs.
Yup…free legal services.
Haha…………I am so glad that I live in San Diego. We just came back from a week in NYC. I was so happy to put away my heavy winter boots, gloves, hat, coat, and scarf!
I saw that you were there in the blizzard! I’ll bet there was a moment of fun in that for a San Diego gal!
Are you kidding? With all the crime in the world, THIS? Go figure. Crazy stuff.
Hahah. I know, Carol, but I live in a pretty small town, so the cops need something to do. Thank God we are a bit light on crime here!
Funny story. You have to hope that the local gendarme is not a fan of your blog, like I’m sure many of the locals must be:)
Yes, Estelle I pondered that, but it was a risk I was willing to take, after all I’m the lawyer in this story and we lawyers have a saying, ” The Lawyer Never Goes to Jail!”
A few lawyers have gone to jail on “Law and Order.”
Binge watching that show has given me a great deal of legal knowledge, some of which must be accurate.