The attached photos were taken on Wednesday morning on the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn. Thankfully, the driver was not killed or injured when the snow / ice flew off the vehicle driving in front of him and slammed into his windshield.
While many states such as New Jersey have enacted laws for this and drivers can get fines and citations for not cleaning their vehicles, New York has not approved proposed legislation for this yet.
That being said, the NY State Police was seen giving tickets for people who are driving with snow and ice on their roofs of their vehicle.
(Charles Gross – YWN)
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9 Responses
How about people not salting and shoveling their sidewalk it’s a chiyuv to call 311 on them I’m happy I did to many people
Can you please explain. If there is no law in NY how can the State police ticket drivers?
I do not understand – if it is not yet illegal in NY, how were “NY State Police seen giving tickets”?
The city not shoveling where they have to shovel so why calling them they also have to be reported to someone
#1 – though you may be proud of yourself, you likely accomplished absolutely nothing. It would probably take many days until the DOS has spare manpower to respond to such calls (if ever,) in order to investigate and issue a summons.
Furthermore, you should check with your Rabbi if that solution is permissible when alternatives exist.
You can try doing what I did during the last snowstorm. I walk my elderly father to shul every day, and the un-shoveled spots on the sidewalk make it very difficult and dangerous. I spoke to the homeowners when I saw them on the street, and politely asked them to shovel their sidewalk or hire someone to do it. I pointed out to them that all the other houses were cleared, and they were the cause of the aforementioned danger and difficulty. Later that day and the next morning I went out with my own shovel and ice chopper and attacked some of the snow and ice that they had not done. Most of them were embarrassed by my assistance (I am not a young man) and told me to leave it, that they would do it themselves.
That worked surprisingly well, because almost all of them cleared their sidewalks this time, even if they didn’t all do a perfect job. Or maybe they hired someone else.
I got real results, and didn’t have to be a Moiser.
I am not saying it is totally Assur to call 311 for this purpose. In the case of repeat offenders that refuse to do it even when asked, there might not be any better option. Though it is not likely to help anyway. Maybe an anonymous note should be left in their mailbox threatening to call 311 would work better than actually calling.
BTW – it is also dangerous, selfish, and hopefully illegal to dig out your personal driveway or car by putting the snow and ice into the already-cleared public street. It likely fits into the “Bor Birshus Harabbim” category of Mazik too. Early in the storms, before most people have shoveled their sidewalks, I walk my father in the street (when there is no vehicular traffic, early in the morning or for maariv for instance.) Often I have a nice clear plowed street, but am then blocked by a mound of snow and ice 8 inches deep running across the whole street, right where some selfish idiot cleaned around his car or driveway into the middle of the street.
No you idiots – future cars driving down the street will not magically make that snow disappear! No, they will not be able to drive through it with no difficulty at all, or else the city did not have to bother plowing in the first place. And just because a plow came down the street once, does not guarantee that another one will be coming again any time soon.
If you call 311 on people, you are a moser. If you truly care about the shoveling, shovel.
Scary that could of Ben my car
So noble of you coolmike.
Instead of your chiyuv of informing on others, why don’t you pick up a shovel and help out?
Snow and ice was flying off trucks as well as other vehicles on the NJ Turnpike today. People have noooooo brains!