'Ice Missile Law' Enforced in Greenwich

By Barbara Heins, Greenwich Patch editor

The way Greenwich Police Lt. James Bonney describes it, "the car looked like it came from Antarctica."

While on patrol on West Putnam Avenue near Holly Hill Lane late Wednesday morning, Bonney spotted a snow-covered car being operated by a driver with an apparent blatant disregard of the new Connecticut law that requiresall drivers to remove snow and ice from the vehicles — including trucks.

"His car was covered in snow. It looked like he used a paper towel tube to carve out two spots so he could see out the windshield," Bonney said. When Bonney stopped the driver, who was only identified as a Massachusetts resident driving a 2006 Nissan sedan, the driver said he was unaware of the law.

"He was swerving all over the place because he couldn't see where he was going. I was afraid he was going to kill someone or himself," Bonney said.

Bonney said he suggested the driver clear off the car while Bonney wrote a ticket citing him for failure to clean the car. "He told me he didn't have a scraper. I told him he wasn't driving anywhere ... he had to park the car. There's a CVS up the street where he could buy a scraper," Bonney recalled.

Bonney issued the driver the ticket that carries a $120 fine and watched the driver walk to the drugstore that's on the corner of West Putnam and Holly Hill.

Bonney said that was the first ticket issued for an "ice missle" offense. "Everybody else has been compliant" with the law that went into effect Dec. 31.