It’s winter, and at my house in New Hampshire I received about eight inches of snow yesterday. Today I’m watching it come down hard outside the windows at TeleGlass National headquarters, so I am a little concerned about what I’ll find when I get home tonight. At a minimum, I’m looking at slogging up the driveway on foot to get out the snow thrower to clear everything off. Bad news, too. I left my snow boots at home, and am wearing leather dress shoes.
Before I can even consider the drive home, I wanted to turn my attention to the number one thing I want to advise you to keep in your car if you live in a part of the country that sees snow accumulation even once a year. The windshield broom/scraper is mandatory equipment. Do not get caught without one!
I snapped this photo of one of my coworkers cleaning her truck off midway through the day yesterday. She’s very responsible, and she made it a point to knock as much snow and ice off her truck as possible.
Take a look at her roof – notice how there’s no snow up there? Pam didn’t just clean off her windshield… she cleaned all the horizontal surfaces of her vehicle as well. Pam understands that if you don’t take this step, snow and ice can fly off your car and break the windshield of someone following behind you.
If this happens and you need an appointment to fix your windshield, you know where to turn.
Do your part to keep it from happening to others. In most states, there is legislation on the books that discusses creating a hazard for other drivers. Even though it is rarely enforced, it’s good karma. Do the right thing.
The bottom photo is my windshield broom/scraper. It boasts a squeegee and broom on one end, and an ice chipper and scraper on the other. The pole is telescoping, so I can reach all the way across my car to push snow off the top. I spent less than $20 on this heavy duty unit at Costco, and have seen them retail for much less. Any Target, Wal*Mart, or auto parts store should be able to hook you up as well.
If doing the right thing for others isn’t enough to motivate you, consider this. I saw someone with four inches of snow on the roof come to a sudden stop a few days ago, and all the snow slid forward, completely covering the windshield and obstructing his view. He had to get out of the car to clear it away with his bare hands. The snow was so heavy his windshield wipers didn’t work. He looked cold, wet, and miserable. He took his life into his own hands when he didn’t clear his car of snow, and was lucky he didn’t cause an accident by being at a complete stop on a busy street in icy conditions for almost a minute while he cleared his car of snow.
Be safe out there!
Read more from James Lee.
In 2009 he joined TGSC Group as the managing director of product development. James brings expertise in customer satisfaction and service delivery to the team. He guest blogs for TeleGlass and is an amateur photographer. Find him on Twitter @jronaldlee.
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