Unfortunately, winter doesn't seem to be going anywhere soon and if you're in Illinois, there's something that you must do after a snowfall.

I have many grievances with winter and that includes snow. Even though it's been a "mild winter" by the standards of literally every Midwesterner I've talked to, there's still been snow and cold snaps. The snow is beautiful and peaceful if I don't have to be out in it.

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Driving in heavy snow with slick roads stresses me out, despite having an all-wheel drive car. That's why I hate being in snowy traffic behind cars that don't do this very basic task and turns out, it's a legal issue.

Why You Need To Clean Snow Off Your Car Before You Drive It

I shouldn't have to say this.

I get that it's extra time in the frigid meat locker that is the outdoors and brushing off the inches of snow on my hood/windshield/side/entire car feels like impending frostbite.

It is illegal in the state of Illinois to not clean snow accumulation off of your car before you drive it. 

It's already annoying to be driving after a snowfall and you're behind that person in traffic who didn't clean off their car and now all of the snow from their car is flying back into your windshield. But it's illegal to drive your car if you can't see anything because of the snow. In Illinois, you could get fined if you don't clean the snow off of your car.

You can't drive with an obstructed view. If you're pulled over for it, you could face a $120 fine in Illinois, according to KHQA in Quincy. All cars have to have wipers or something to get the snow/whatever's covering the glass off, according to Illinois law.

Illinois State Trooper Joseph Rush gave a great example to Fox Illinois of why you should clean off your car:

You're traveling down the interstate at 70 miles per hour and a chunk of ice flies off your vehicle - it can cause severe damage to the vehicle that's traveling behind you and can also cause them to have an accident.

Obviously, if you can't see much through the ice on your windshield, you risk hitting a pedestrian, rear-ending someone else, or just making a mess of yourself and your car.

You can be fined in Iowa too if you don't clean snow off your car.

Take the extra few minutes, though it's cold, and wipe the snow/scrape the ice off of your car. Meanwhile, I'll see you in summer.

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