I caused chaos on the road this morning

[FrancisQuoynt]

Chucked it down with snow overnight and my car was covered in snow. I cleared the windows and drove off to go to work. I got to a roundabout where you can turn left, go straight on or turn right (as you do on roundabouts, I was going straight on) and there was an avalanche on the windscreen. I'd forgotten to clear the roof. It covered the windscreen and the wipers were jammed and I couldn't see a bloody thing.

I had to stop the car and get out and clear it off the windscreen. I was in the left lane, so anyone going straight on or right could still get by. A man behind me with a moustache and a trilby hat on started honking and shaking his fist because I had delayed him by about, ooh, 90 seconds.

Feeling a right fool. Trilby Man looked like someone out of a 1970s sitcom.

For all you know it never occurred to her to clear the roof. That’s not knowledge people are born with. Now she knows, and nobody got hurt.

All the more reason why she's not competent to be on the roads...

What if it doesn’t occur to people to check their tyres, or lights or the speed limit or road markings? That okay as well?

Removing anything off the car roof before driving off doesn't require knowledge, just common sense. If you put a bag/cup on the roof before opening the car door you don't drive off with it still on there do you?

Sometimes people do, yes. And remembering or understanding the dangers of ‘something that fell from the sky, I did not put there myself and is not impeding my ability to drive’ is different to a snowed up windshield or a cup of coffee. Distracted people often don’t join the dots, and if it’s a relatively rare event it doesn’t become a learned behaviour

It's a pity so many posts on here are critting you. Yes, you made a mistake, but we all do, and you HAD to stop to sort it out. That man would have found some way of moaning at you anyway as men always do. You should hear them when I or my bff are driving her ancient Morris Minor!

All of those are extremely important and are included in driving tests. How to deal with a snowed up vehicle is not and extreme weather conditions are rare in the UK. I’m not saying it was an ok thing to do I’m just pointing out why it may not have occurred to her as something she should do. No one was hurt, trilby man experienced a mild inconvenience and now she knows better. Which is a far better outcome than what might have been, but which fortunately didn’t happen

At that point in time (having not cleared the roof initially) what else was she supposed to have done? Attempted to carry on driving whilst not being able to see a thing in front of her? Pulling out into traffic when she couldn't see if any cars were crossing her path? Having to wait an extra minute is NOT a reason for road rage. Slight irritation? Yes. Anger? No. That attitude is why there's so many accidents and other road rage incidents occurring now!

It doesn't occur to many people to check their tyres, or their lights. This is something that one should do before any and every journey. I could guarantee that the majority of people dont do it!

I've commented on here once. I'm going to again! There are still ppl here criticising the OP. Was she supposed to drive on w/out being able to see where she was going? We get enough critting from men on the road - we don't need any from women!!

Well I think my critics will be happy to know that I have got my comeuppance. The day after this incident, my car wouldn't start when I returned to it at 6.15pm. I called the RAC who gave me a time of between 9.30pm and 12.30am. It was -5 and I needed a wee. So I guess I deserved it.

Oh dear that sounds a pain for you. Hope you got it all sorted. And that you managed to find somewhere suitable for a wee! Yes it was daft not to clear the snow, but we can always hopefully learn from these things, and FWIW don't think you deserved it!

Don't beat yourself up over this. Have a good Christmas.

I was in Halfords at the weekend and spied a telescopic roof brush for clearing snow off the car. Thought of you OP, and bought one 😁

When did the RAC get to you, OP?

Another life saved because of MumsNet 😍

What a horrible day 😥

After 2 hours!

Well I wasn't a critic so I'm sorry to hear that. But going off at an obscure tangent - why do we (I anyway) always need a pee at the most difficult time? I have memories of my sister and I jumping up and down with legs together watching our brother spray a nearby tree and us thinking "why can't we ..." .

SORRY told you it was a tangent.

But why?