Healthy winter driving

Copied from WKYC but useful to know. One of my biggest pet peeves is people that don't clean off the snow and ice from their cars and attempt to drive down the road. UNSAFE & ILLEGAL.

Winter driving is a challenge. You've probably been stuck behind drivers with mountain-deep snow on top of their vehicles and just small areas of the front and back windows cleared. That's dangerous for them and you and could be illegal.

One of the biggest things police and the Ohio Highway Patrol officers see are cars going down the road that only have the small cubby-hole cleared off and not the rest of the vehicle.

There are lots of laws on the books about winter driving and driving in general.

For example, a driver with frost- or snow-covered windows can be cited for having an obscured view.

And a new law that went into effect last Friday requires drivers to have their headlights on in any weather where the windshield wipers are in use. If you don't, you can be fined $100.

In some cities it is against the law to leave your car idling for more than 10 or 20 minutes. You could face fines for that in Cleveland, Maple Heights and South Euclid.

There's also a new state law that requires drivers to slow down or move over a lane when there's a tow truck driver on the side of the road. That law carries up to a $300 fine.