There’s a $150 Fine in Massachusetts for Putting this in Streets and Highways

It had to happen, the Berkshires saw the first significant snowfall this past Friday. One minute we're eating turkey and enjoying Thanksgiving and the next, bam, we're slammed by a winter weather advisory and a decent amount of snow. Only in the Berkshires, right? While we still have snow on the ground in Berkshire County, I was recently driving through the towns of Russell, Westfield, West Springfield, and Springfield, and none of those towns had any snow on the ground. Hey, we're the Berkshires, and we along with our weather conditions march to our own drummer.

When Berkshire County received the white stuff this past Friday, it kind of caught me off guard as I was off that week and wasn't paying much attention to weather forecasts. On Friday morning, I had to rearrange my garage and get the snowblower ready to go as quickly as possible. It didn't take me very long but I did snow blow after our little Berkshire storm. One thing that I did by accident on a couple of pass-throughs with the snowblower, is I shot some snow into the street and into my neighbor's driveway. Even though it wasn't much, I did feel bad and cleaned it up the best I could.

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Did You Know That it is Illegal to Place/Push/Blow/Throw Snow in Massachusetts Streets and Highways?

As with many states, it is illegal to blow or push snow into streets and highways in Massachusetts and can cost you $150 if you are caught doing this. Here's the actual law courtesy of the Massachusetts Legislature:

Section 7B. No person other than an employee in the service of the commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof or an employee in the service of an independent contractor acting for the commonwealth or any such subdivision shall pile, push or plow snow or ice onto a state highway so as to impede the flow of traffic on such way. Whoever violates this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred and fifty dollars.

This makes sense as it can cause delays, backups, and injury to motorists. As far as throwing snow into your neighbor's property as I did by accident goes, that action is technically considered trespassing. So, avoid a fine and keep your snow on your property if you can help it.

Need some more law fulfillment? Check this out.

While we're talking about Massachusetts, let's view some celebrities who were born in the Bay State. 

Have you ever messed up these Berkshire pronunciations?