MURPHYS, Calif. — Len Jacques lives in Murphys, just off Highway 4.
He often sees people driving back from the Bear Valley Ski area with snow on their vehicles. This is something he was pulled over for a few years back while returning from Kirkwood and was asked to remove the snow on top of his motorhome.
“Every winter, we have people from the valley come up to have a good time but on the way home they leave piles of snow on their cars, two, sometimes three feet if you can imagine,” said Jacques.
Jacques has seen drivers come down the windy highways, especially between Arnold and Murphys, and snow comes flying off their cars.
“One day I was coming up and I was about two cars behind a truck, a pickup, and the snow came flying off of one of these cars and hit the windshield,” said Jacques.
Luckily, Len says that the driver was okay, but the person in front of them didn’t seem to notice that the snow from their car had hit another.
Officer Ricardo Ortiz with California Highway Patrol says before you go, clean off your vehicle and make sure your view isn’t blocked by snow or ice.
“Oftentimes you will see, especially at higher elevations, quite a bit of snow on top of somebody’s vehicle. And that can constitute a hazard not only for the person driving that vehicle but the motorists around them,” said Ortiz.
Ortiz says if you stop quickly, that snow could also block your view or hit another person's car, causing damage.
He says you could be stopped if you have a lot of snow piled on your car.
“California Vehicle Code Section 24002 Subsection A states in essence that a person cannot operate a motor vehicle in an unsafe condition or in a situation that constitutes an immediate hazard to other motorists,” said Ortiz.
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