NJ drivers, a $15 item could avoid a $1,000 ticket this winter

Sure we haven't had much snow yet, but winter is just getting started and could be saying, "Hold my beer."

When snow hits this or any other winter in New Jersey, it's a pain to deal with. Even just to get out of your driveway you have to clear that snow off your car. When you don't get all of it there could be big consequences.

I have an SUV, so I get it. It's tempting when a bitter cold wind is slicing your face at 50 mph to decide the center of the roof is just too hard to get at. I call the snow left down the middle of the roof a snowhawk, like a snow version of a punk hairstyle.

Don't be that guy.

Why we have this snow law in New Jersey

The fine you can get in New Jersey for not clearing snow or ice off your vehicle runs between $25-$75. BUT...if that snow/ice comes flying off your car at the wrong time and causes injury or property damage to someone else it can cost you a whopping $1,000 fine.

You can thank, in part, Cathy Eastman for this common sense law. Years ago a large piece of ice flew off the roof of a moving truck on Route 17 in Paramus. It went through her husband's windshield, killing him. It's no joke.

She took up the cause so it wouldn't happen to others. At first, truckers complained. They with even better reasons than passenger car drivers didn't relish the thought of a slippery climb 13 feet up on top of their rigs. But the industry soon came up with a goal-post type contraption that would clear the roofs.

Here's $15 well spent. Get something like this.

A telescoping snow broom that extends well over 4 feet long with a foot-and-a-half long foam broom head. Perfect! And it collapses back down in length so it's not too clunky to keep in your car for the winter.

So please, I know it's easy to think it will never happen when the ice pellets are peppering your face and you just want to get on the road in a warm car. But buy something like this if you don't have one. At most, you'll save a life. At least, you won't be "that guy."

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

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