A video shared on social media is getting a lot of reactions as it appears a driver is trying to clear their coated windshield of snow while driving on Highway 401.
The 35-second video was posted to Facebook on Wednesday morning by user Gavin Gerbz with the caption” “BREAKING NEWS! ‘BIRD BOX CHALLENGE’ on the 401.” The clip begins with a close-up view of the driver holding an extended brush out of the driver’s side window as the SUV travels down the highway.
Only the top left corner of the windshield is clear, as a large amount of snow can be seen on the rest of the glass and the top part of the hood.
The driver can be seen sweeping the top left corner of the windshield as small pieces of snow fall down. The SUV can be seen slowing down in front of a box truck. The vehicle then picks up speed as the sheet of snow moves down slightly.
As of Wednesday evening, the video had approximately 20,000 views.
Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Kerry Schmidt told Global News that he is aware of the video. He said that as of Wednesday evening, he wasn’t aware whether a complaint had been filed or an investigation had been launched.
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“When I first saw the video, I was obviously shocked to see what was going on — realizing it’s on the 401, a multi-lane highway, slowing down traffic. You could see traffic jamming up behind,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt said if anyone encounters such a situation, they should pull over to the side of the highway immediately. He said if drivers are caught driving in a similar situation, they could face careless or dangerous driving charges.
“It’s unacceptable and unbelievable someone would put themselves in that kind of jeopardy,” Schmidt said.
“This is a very simple task to reach up on the roof and brush that snow off. Anything less is really negligence on their behalf … That snow could easily freeze to a single sheet of ice and if that was to happen again, it could easily fly off behind the vehicle and smash into a vehicle.”