RAYMOND – In the Bible I have read, “I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; and I was naked, and you clothed me.” To me, this is the real “spirit of the Christmas Season”. It is the sincere giving from the heart, not just exchanging gifts, but truly giving, especially to those in need, to those less fortunate than ourselves.

Inviting family, friends, or even a total stranger into your home for a nice meal, or some social time, is a good way for the less fortunate, those hurting from the poor economy, or from lack of work, feeling the financial strains, to have a time to forget their personal problems for a period of time, enjoy company of others, have something to eat, and have a drink or two, all amongst friends.

With this year being the economically worst Christmas Season I can remember, since I was a kid, during WWII, I urge you to go the extra mile this season, to try to bring at least a short period of enjoyment to the ones you know and love. It doesn’t have to be just on Christmas Day, it’s the whole season. Please, really think about this. I pray you will do your part to make a brighter day for someone this Christmas Season.

The other Monday morning, just after the Saturday night snow, I was minding my own business, driving in the slow lane on Route 101, heading to the State House, when smack, smack, smack, three (3) big chunks of icy snow smashed onto my windshield. Yes, they came off a passing vehicle whose driver didn’t take the 15 or 20 minutes to clean off the snow, prior to heading out, although it had been over 24 hours since the snow stopped. Just lazy.

Guess what: that laziness of leaving the snow on your vehicle is against state laws and can get quite expensive. With all the towns, and the state, hurting for some quick cash, I’ll clean mine off and be safer at the same time.

In New Hampshire, you can be stopped and the police officer has three action options. (1) The officer can be nice, explain the laws, and can even help you if he wants to, and then give you a “warning only”, as a community service thing. (2) If you didn’t completely clean your windshield, all side windows, and rear window, you can be fined $75.00 under New Hampshire State Statue RSA 265:95, “obstruction to driver’s view or driving mechanism.” Simply put, all windows must be completely clear. Actually this also applies to windows covered with ice or frosted over. Have you ever seen someone driving with only a small peephole on their windshield? I have many times.

(3) This option, NH State Statue RSA 265:79-b “negligent driving” can get pretty costly. The officer could charge you with negligent driving for the snow or ice-covered windows and/or for the snow or ice flying off your vehicle that could cause an injury or accident. Fines under RSA 265:79-b are “not less than $250.00 to not more than $500.00” for the first offense, and “not less than $500.00 to not more than $1,000.00” for the second and any subsequent offenses. The culpable mental state for “Negligently” is covered in RSA 626:2-II-(d) “deviation from the conduct that a reasonable person would observe in the situation”, spells it out that you should know better, and thereby should clean it.

Please be responsible and clean off your vehicle and make it safer for everyone, or face a ticket and fine.

(Editor’s Note: NH State Representative Mike Kappler can be reached at l.mikekappler@comcast.net)