Overnight Cars vs. Snowplows

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
December 16, 2007

It's easy to see where cars are parking overnight in Woodstock during snow storms. The plows pull up behind them and then sweep around them, boxing them in with piles of snow.

Most drivers will be able to pull out through the snow bank in front of their cars, but they leave behind the pile of snow in the street for other drivers to pass around.

Is ticketing these cars enough? Should they be towed, so that the snow plows can clear the entire width of the street? Should the vehicle owner be liable for the expense to send the snow plow back to remove the snow where the car was parked?

Perhaps some temporary signs are needed to better inform drivers of overnight parking prohibitions during winter months and after 3" of snow fall. The signs could be placed over existing overnight parking signs without the expense of new signposts. During winter months no overnight parking is permitted, snow or not.

Does this mean not even the 30 minutes now permitted to drivers between 2:00-6:00AM? Probably.

It would be interesting to know why drivers park on the streets overnight when the streets must be plowed and how many vehicles were plowed around last night. Do snow plow drivers report the cars so parked? Did the police go by and ticket them? Are vehicles ever towed during major snow storms?