# Throwing snow into the street



## beardown34 (Jan 22, 2014)

Just wondering -- what is the general thought on throwing snow from your driveway into the street -- BEFORE the plows have begun to run? Like if you found a window of opportunity after the snow stops falling, but before the plows have begun to run?

Obviously it's a no-no after the plows have cleared the street.


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## Skidder (Mar 14, 2014)

I do it but I check for any cars coming and never after the plows go by.


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## 94EG8 (Feb 13, 2014)

Check your local laws, it's illegal here. Anyone with a plow will usually plow straight across the road, which is also illegal but unless you're caught in the act no one is going to give you a ticket.


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## beardown34 (Jan 22, 2014)

Alright, two replies in and there's already a "check your local laws" reply. 

I'm not asking about the letter of the law. I'm just asking opinions. Like for example, everyone around here shovels at least some portion of their end of driveway snow into the street, especially towards the end of the season when the banks are so high it would take a Herculean effort to lift all of it back onto your property. These people aren't trying to break the law. They're just trying to get by.


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## MnJim (Jan 26, 2014)

Would you mind if your neighbor blew his driveway into yours if you hadn't already done yours?

How about the other cars that have to negotiate the additional snow blown into the street.


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## beardown34 (Jan 22, 2014)

MnJim said:


> Would you mind if your neighbor blew his driveway into yours if you hadn't already done yours?
> 
> How about the other cars that have to negotiate the additional snow blown into the street.


Let's try not to lean on non-equivalent analogies and think that a good point is being made. I'm not trying to get personal here, but equating throwing extra snow onto a property where someone is using a shovel or a non-commercial snowthrower to get rid of it, versus throwing it into a street where a commercial plow drives by at 45 miles per hour regardless of 1 or 12 inches of snow, is a pretty ridiculous argument.


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## Skidder (Mar 14, 2014)

MnJim said:


> Would you mind if your neighbor blew his driveway into yours if you hadn't already done yours?
> 
> How about the other cars that have to negotiate the additional snow blown into the street.


With the new impeller mod he can go right ahead. Haha just kidding


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## beardown34 (Jan 22, 2014)

Skidder said:


> With the new impeller mod he can go right ahead. Haha just kidding


Hehe


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## MnJim (Jan 26, 2014)

ok so the commercial driver now deals with the extra snow you blew into the street by winging it into your neighbors drive and now he can use his shovel or noncommercial blower to clear his EOD.


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## superedge88 (Nov 26, 2013)

In my situation there is no need to, but back when I lived elsewhere I went to great lengths to avoid putting snow in the street. Just didn't seem right when there are cars trying to get through the street before it's plowed.


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## MnJim (Jan 26, 2014)

superedge88 said:


> In my situation there is no need to, but back when I lived elsewhere I went to great lengths to avoid putting snow in the street. Just didn't seem right when there are cars trying to get through the street before it's plowed.


 Agree
Just creating a mess for someone else to deal with.


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## Sid (Jan 31, 2014)

I think major cities, I know NYC does, toward the end of the snow season, or after a few days of any fairly big storm, they sort of plow the snow, slush, crud back into the street so the traffic will further grind it up and or melt it, a sort of a community effort.
Sid


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## beardown34 (Jan 22, 2014)

MnJim said:


> ok so the commercial driver now deals with the extra snow you blew into the street by winging it into your neighbors drive and now he can use his shovel or noncommercial blower to clear his EOD.


Then just so i understand -- if you're clearing your driveway apron and EOD snow, and there's a wind from your back carrying out towards the street, you will account for all the snow that came from your property, and go remove it from the street to prevent the snow plow from moving it onto someone else's property? Obviously I'm being facetious, but my point is sometimes there's a reasonable amount of snow that escapes your own property. 

I am not talking about maliciously going out of your way to make sure every flake of snow from your driveway ends up in the street. Put it this way: (1) I see most people clear snow to about 1-2 feet beyond the end of their driveway. (2) If you are using your snowthrower in a longitudinal path down your driveway towards the street, as most people do, then unless your chute can turn more than 90 degrees to the left or right of center, and actually throw snow backwards towards your lawn, then some of that snow is going to end up in the street. Ideally of course, most of that ends up still fairly close to the curb, but towards the end of a very snowy season, "the curb" is probably also extending into the street. 

If you accept that points (1) and (2) are realistic occurrences, then wouldn't you rather have this extra snow in the street before the plows come by, rather than after?

I have a capable dual stage that allows me to go back over this snow that has ended up into the edges of the street and blow it back onto my lawn, but this cannot always be reasonably possible for those with shovels or single stage machines.


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## Kiss4aFrog (Nov 3, 2013)

MnJim said:


> Would you mind if your neighbor blew his driveway into yours if you hadn't already done yours?
> 
> How about the other cars that have to negotiate the additional snow blown into the street.



I think it's a perfect argument as was the one about that snow ending up being a bigger pile at the end of a neighbors driveway.

I go through the trouble of doing part of the street each time I blow if I'm out before the plow just so it doesn't end up in front of my driveway. 

I'm thinking about the guy or gal trying to make it to the store or work that might just marginally negotiate the street before that snow was blown or the ambulance or fire truck that also hits that added snow . . . It's one in a million but I don't think it's a good idea or fair to the neighbors.

To make it personal, if one of my neighbors was blowing snow into the street between me and the road I need to use to get out I would hope they get caught and I wouldn't think twice about being the one to make the call to complain.


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## detdrbuzzard (Jan 20, 2012)

i'm on a side street so unless there is a blizzard ( even then my street gets passed over ) we are not likely to see a plow. when i come down my driveway with the snowblower i go across the street to my neighbors driveway


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## brickcity (Jan 23, 2014)

after a large storm in my neighborhood, after all sidewalks and driveways are cleared and then the city comes and plows a nice three foot mountain a snow it is physically impossible to put the snow anywere but back in the street. if you have a driveway you have no choice . if you dont have a driveway and your parked on the street your throwing in the street also. you can't put they snow anywhere but the street unless you want to pick it up with a shovel and gently place it on the giant mound you made cleaning the sidewalks
as long as you spread it around on the street i don't think its a big deal especially with the salt trucks working behind the plows it is the only and best option.


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## Pythons37 (Nov 9, 2012)

Never.


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## InfernoST (Feb 12, 2014)

Here in Brooklyn NY there is no other place but the street to put the snow. If the sidewalks aren't cleared you wind up getting tickets. Unfortunately thats the problem when there are so many homes in close proximity of one another. If you leave any on the sidewalk it melts during the day then freezes at night posing yet another hazard for pedestrians. You can't win.


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## Mr Fixit (Nov 19, 2013)

Bylaw here states all snow, driveway or front sidewalk snow must go on your front lawn. Another bylaw says you can't wash your car on the street. 
About 8 homes decided five years ago they'd push all their driveway snow on the street. The plow went by once a week and it got fairly narrow between 4' high banks. Plow only has so much traction so it got down to 10' between windrows of snow. All the way up and down the street we had still a full 24' wide street to drive meeting one another no problem. If you drove by these 8 homes their front lawns had barely 12 inches of snow but the rest of the street 1 to 240 had 4 feet plus of snow. So the 8 got on the phone and started crying to the city, for all the snow to be hauled away. Engineering Dept. sent someone to investigate. They hauled all the snow no problem. Billed them 3 trucks times six hours, Grader, signals truck, one loader time 6 hours. 8 men for 6 hours. All done after hours at overtime rates. They added it all up and put it on their house taxes/8. No one had a problem with that. Anything you taxpayers want you can surely get, if you pay for it!


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## Colored Eggs (Dec 7, 2012)

I never throw snow in the road at anytime. 
1. Its illegal where I am.
2. I don't want to throw more snow into the road and then have drivers have problems driving or loose control if they hit the deep snow. I'm sure if you cause an accident they can sue the person. 
3. The road is public property and not a dumping ground. All snow on your property should stay there unless you have an agreement with a neighbor. 
Its the same with mowing the lawn. I always stop mowing when I'm at the road when a car drives by so I don't shoot a rock or any road trash at a car or I try keeping the discharge away pointed away. 

We have towns that I go through that have sidewalks and Streets. The only place the snow goes is a nice tall pile along the road/walkways. Its extra work for the people there but they sure don't just throw it back in the road and forget about it.

Now don't get me wrong. I have thrown snow into the street on accident but it wasn't much and it was only due to me making turns on the sidewalks and not turning the chute at the same time.


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## GtWtNorth (Feb 5, 2014)

Because I have limitations on where I can throw the snow (12 foot hedges, large evergreens), I will leave some in the street at the end of the drive before the plow passes. I have no neighbors on the down stream side for at least 100 ft. & around a corner, so it has no impact on them.
It's illegal here also to throw snow into the street, but they tolerate some small piles next to the bank, depending on the height of the banks. When the streets get too narrow due to volume of snow, the city comes around with their blower and throws it on the lawns.

Paul


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## Surge (Dec 31, 2013)

I would never do it, and it would **** me off big time if my neighbor did it.
And if I found out it was illegal to do so, I would phone in a complaint.

Its easy enough with a snow thrower to clear the snow without moving it to a place that makes it more difficult for vehicles to negotiate, or create problems for someone else, even if that is the local town plows.

Not cool, IMO.


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## Spectrum (Jan 6, 2013)

beardown34 said:


> Alright, two replies in and there's already a "check your local laws" reply.
> 
> I'm not asking about the letter of the law. I'm just asking opinions. Like for example, everyone around here shovels at least some portion of their end of driveway snow into the street, especially towards the end of the season when the banks are so high it would take a Herculean effort to lift all of it back onto your property. These people aren't trying to break the law. They're just trying to get by.


I may lose a rooster tail in the street before the plow comes by but I have never felt the need to use it as a dumping place. I clear close to 3 cars wide at the street with flare and the mailbox approach. I just pick it apart. If it's getting high nearby just toss it a little down range or sacrifice a little bit of the generous opening.


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## brickcity (Jan 23, 2014)

Surge said:


> I would never do it, and it would **** me off big time if my neighbor did it.
> And if I found out it was illegal to do so, I would phone in a complaint.
> 
> Its easy enough with a snow thrower to clear the snow without moving it to a place that makes it more difficult for vehicles to negotiate, or create problems for someone else, even if that is the local town plows.
> ...


believe me you would do it if you lived on my street and as far as my neighbors getting pissed off theyre happy as a clam when i clear a walking path for them and the other 500 people that walk by my house everyday.
believe me, depending on where you live sometimes there is just no other option than to spread it in the street. 
dont care what snowblower or plow anyone on this board has it can not be done on my street.


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