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Comments
Moron is correct
Moron is the first word to come to my head as well. He or she didn't even try using the wipers.
Either this person was just smart enough
to realize they should not attempt to use wipers that are encased in frozen ice, or they were stupid enough to try using them to remove the ice, with the result they either stripped the spindles or blew out the wiper motor.
And what's with the cop pulling the vehicle over at a point where other traffic can't legally pass (note the painted median)? Especially when there appears to be sufficient width about 50 to 75 feet west of the location to pull somebody over without forcing traffic into a median - see my other comment below.
In today's commentary (which, ironically,mentioned another person who didn't bother to clear off their windshield), Jon Keller vowed to be far less critical of Boston area drivers who pull nonsense like this in 2016. We'll see how long that resolution lasts.
how long
did you want him to wait before pulling over the guy that had practically no visibility out the front of his car exactly? honest question.
Since you ask -
Based on GSV, this appears to be immediately beyond the intersection of Linden Street and Pine Tree Road, and the car is facing west. Looks to me that there is sufficient pavement width about 50 to 75 feet after the painted median to pull car over without forcing traffic to cross the painted median.
Lazy is the more likely story
Just plain lazy.
I had to drive my husband to work, so I planned in a 15 minute defrost and scrape job. Being aware of the weather isn't a difficult task.
If I had chains for the car, I might have put those on, too.
I also saw the cops pull over a guy on I-93 who had failed to clear his rear and side windows.
I'll give a 99 percent probability that it was indeed just sheer
laziness. However, I was responding to the comment about "didn't use the wipers" and was clearly biased by the fact it took me almost one hour to completely clear off my car earlier.
Wow
That's bad. Maybe German cars are just good with the ice? I just started mine up, set the defrosters to "kill", and gave it a little time to loosen up while shovelling other things.
To clarify, it only took me about 25 minutes
to clear off enough of the windshield so I had reasonably full visibility. Yes, this was still longer than usual. This was due to the thickness and consistency of the ice, which was excerbated by the fact my car had sat cold for a week before Tuesday's storm. However, unlike most people, I've always believed in cleaning off as much of the ice and snow from the entire car as is reasonably possible before setting off.
Based on my experience yesterday, it appears to me that had the driver of this car did a little additional scraping after cutting out the peephole, chances are that most of the ice would have fallen away in large chunks.
deleted duplicate comment
Stupid mouse
Not clearing the rear window
Not clearing the rear window is a really bad idea. But is it actually illegal? Plenty of trucks have no rear window.
Not clearing the rear window
I can't speak to rules in Mass, but in Connecticut it has been illegal for a couple years now. Big improvement in accident rates from poor visibility, flying Ice sheets, and snow dumps on surrounding traffic.
Here's a thought: Maybe the
Here's a thought: Maybe the moron should have waited until his defroster kicked in and he could scrape his windshield before he got on the road?
Far less critical? How about public shaming? The photo should include the moron's license plate number.
Moron.
Agree 100 percent
However, removing the ice yesterday was more involved than running the defroster for a few minutes.
umm...
Where they pulled over was up to the idiot driver, not the officer, but oh yeah, they couldn't see much. Surprised they knew they were being pulled over. People being pulled over or even just stopping alongside a road don't think enough about other drivers, like at the top of a hill they think "I can see everyone", but the car that tries to pass you blindly has to enter oncoming lane to get around you.
Point taken. However, if
the idiot driver pulled over in a bad location, the cop should have told them to move to a different place. And the cop probably should have waited until there was an area to pull over before flashing the blues.
their lights
Might have been on for a half mile...
Probably safer considering there doesn't seem to be much traffic and the width of the roadway would appear to be fairly wide. Safer than having them proceed any further.
I haven't seen this in years
I haven't seen this in years and years. All you have to do is let the engine run a few minutes with the defrost on full blast and the snow will easily come off.
Be careful running defroster
Running defroster on high fan and heat on a cold windshield can crack the glass. Best to run heater first to more slowly warm interior and glass, then run defroster
Really?
This seems to be a recent phenomenon. Have windshields actually cracked as a result? I've never heard of it, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened.
FWIW, I have an ancient Corolla and the air from the defroster doesn't get warm until the engine is warm. There is no additional heating unit that would make that air significantly warmer than the ambient inside temp.
Windshield cracked by cold
I had that happen once. I was driving on 128 in a pretty bad snow storm during the evening rush hour and had ice buildup on the bottom of my windshield even though I had the defroster on full blast. A crack formed in the center and by the time I got home it was halfway across the windshield. The only thing I can think is the temp on the outside glass was so different than the inside of the glass that the competing contraction/expansion stressed it into cracking.
It happened to me and tech said he sees it fairly often
He said there's usually a very slight defect, crack or chip and the sudden change in temp can cause that to expand and crack the windshield.
He recommended using heater to heat interior, and hence slowly heat windshield, before putting defroster on blast on windshield.
Makes sense to me. I'm sure a new windshield with no dings would be pretty tolerant of the heat change, but makes sense that an older, stressed one could crack.
Using defroster immediately on windshield is going to provide the most drastic temperature change to said surface, as opposed to using floor or dash vents.
car glass has been getting thinner for decades
largely as a result of trying to achieve fuel economy gains via weight savings. It certainly seems like I'm hearing a lot more anecdotes about replacing windshields in years past, and seeing a lot more cracked windshields. Whether that's due to thinner glass, bigger windshields, more sharply sloped windshields, or changing car body designs that tend to funnel airborne debris at the windshield, I don't know.
Not likely if you cold start
Where my brother lives, -40 isn't uncommon. It was well below zero when I visited with a rental car, and I was given no such advice. He does lose about a windshield a year to flying rocks from truck treads, though.
I've never heard of windshield cracking due to AC use, either. That's because modern vehicles use tempered glass. Pouring boiling water on them is a bad idea, though. The articles that I have seen warn that an already cracked windshield can break outright with additional heat and cold stress, but that's why you get those fixed!
Consider this as well: the defroster blast does not heat up until the engine is warm, and it doesn't do so abruptly. While this might be an issue if you are warm starting the car (but see "tempered glass" above), chances are that if there is that much ice on it, you haven't driven it in some time.
Wrong, Swirly
Windshields are laminated, not tempered glass. Care to expound any more?
Nope. Both/And World Here
Laminating and tempering are not mutually exclusive. Lamination merely builds in a plastic layer for safety reasons, and is not incompatible with the tempering process. One can temper glass, then laminate it, for a strong but shatter-safe composite.
https://www.glass.org/industry-resources-ask-the-expert-faq.html
SB Course III MIT dear.
Cracked windshield
Please share with us documentation of this. (Please don't say 'I saw it on the internet')
40 years driving, every winter in frozen climates (MN, SD, AK among others) always use defroster to start loosening things up. Never a cracked windshield as a result. And never known or met anyone that has either.
It doesn't crack the windshield.
C
OK, Cheryl
I'll get right on that, lol.
See my post above where I note it happened to me.
Bitter cold morning, in the driveway, not moving car, not using wipers, not scraping ice. Just using defrost on high heat/high fan. Windshield cracked before my eyes.
Could have been some freak occurrence, but the tech's explanation made sense to me and is honestly the only explanation I can think of besides magic.
In the future I personally won't be blasting the defroster until the car (and hence windshield) heat up a bit.
Don't really care about your past or future practices.
Happy New Year.
"Was that wrong? Should I
"Was that wrong? Should I have not done that?" - G. Costanza
How does this moron have a licence?!?
And why can't we take it away?
Another police department responds
But if they hit someone....
...It would have to be the pedestrian's fault for not wearing bright colors, right?
The real victim here is the driver who was only trying to avoid being inconvenienced.
Somehow this must be a cyclists' fault
Calling MarkK, please make this about cyclists!
Nah
We already have pretty good proof that you can literally murder a cyclist in Wellesley and get off, no problems.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/02/05/civil-suit-but-criminal-ind...
Is driving like a moron
now illegal here?
There is stupid
And then there is special kind of stupid.
It's not even at eye level !
it is if you're 80 or older.
it is if you're 80 or older.
Revoke license for at least 5 years
Then have a stringent and comprehensive remedial test, both written and driving.
Someone 18+ can get away
Someone 18+ can get away without losing their license for doing this, BUT any 17 year old driver doing 35 in a 30 can lose their license and have to retake the road and written tests. Looks like we need some balancing out here.
Really?
Seriously? If you think that's appropriate, how do you feel about people not losing their license with DUI, or with moving violations that exhibit blatant disregard for people's safety?
I don't disagree about the stupidity of not clearing your windshield, but I always wonder at how people go ballistic about it the way they do on Uhub. When you compare it to so many moving violations that put others just as much at risk, if not more, it doesn't seem to excite the same reaction. Why is that?
Seriously
There are some levels of stupidity/ sheer driving incompetence that require harsh actions.
I'd support a lifetime ban for drivers that back up on highways when they overshoot their exits.
Sorry, lengthy appeal process and time in a Soviet-style driving re-education camp and you might get it back in 20 years. Examples must be set.
Hey, if you're drunk-driving so impaired that you're driving as if the only visibility out of you entire car is a six inch porthole, then yes, you get the book thrown at you too.
Don't even get me started on texting while actually in motion or at highway speed.
Right now, I'd settle for a specific law
that addresses snow and ice on vehicles. As of today there isn't one - apparently you can be cited only for obstructed view. Oh, and unsecured load if the snow or ice flies off your vehicle. AFAIK, neither is a surchargable offense.
RAAR
KILL THE DRIVER
PLACE THEIR HEAD ON A PIKE AS A WARNING TO OTHER DRIVERS
THAT'LL TEACH PEOPLE TO CLEAR THEIR WINDSHIELDS
SINCERELY,
ANGRY INTERNET MANS
(forget it, he's rolling)
Only if we can then do the same
to people who type in ALL CAPS.
Hey, there were little
Hey, there were little letters at the bottom there. ANGRY INTERNET MANS IS NOT A COMPLETE SAVAGE YOU KNOW