Are You Breaking the Law By Driving Your Car In New York With Snow On The Roof?

Are you one of "those people"? You know they type. Following a snowstorm they scurry to their vehicle, warm it up for a second and use their wipers to remove snow from the windshield. These people figure the wind will remove the show from the roof of their car. Lazy, yes, but is this illegal?

First of all, as silly as it seems, did you know that it is Illegal to warm up your vehicle in New York State? Under section 1210 of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law, no person driving or in charge of a motor vehicle shall permit it to stand unattended without first stopping the engine, locking the ignition, removing the key from the vehicle, and effectively setting the brake. But wait, there's more!

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Following every snowstorm in New York we see it. Traveling along the highways, city streets and backroads it doesn't take long to spot the laziest humans on the roads because they will have 4-iches, 5-inches, 6-inches of snow or more riding on the roof. Well, this is ILLEGAL in New York State.

Motor vehicles, with certain exceptions, shall not be operated with an accumulation of snow or ice on the surface thereof; establishes fines for violation of these provisions; establishes a fund for the state's portion of such fines, the "snow and ice removal fund" with 10% of the funds going to an annual DMV report on the fund, 25% going to each the DOT and the Thruway authority for establishing snow and ice removal sites on their roads, 30% for a DOT grant program and 10% for a public awareness campaign. - New York State Senate