It is easy on cold winter mornings to be in a hurry and start down the road before ensuring you can see clearly out the car windows in each direction.

If you have your vehicle parked outside and frost has formed on the windows, it is important you take the time to be able to clearly see through the windows.

Or if you have traveled on some dusty or muddy dirt roads and have not washed your vehicle in a while, your windows might be limiting or obstructing your view.

Kansas State Statute 8-1576 concerns obstruction of driver's view or driving mechanism. It states no person shall drive a vehicle when the driver's view to the front and sides are obstructed.

This means having too many people in the car to allow the driver to see left and right, or having the vehicle loaded in a way that limits the driver's visibility is also a violation of this statute. The driver's ability to see in all directions is a critical part of operating the vehicle in a safe and lawful manner.

Under this same statute, there is concern for the driver having anything positioned in such a way that it might interfere with the driver's control of the vehicle.

For example, if someone had long beads hanging from the rearview mirror in such a way that when turning a corner, the beads could interfere with the driver turning the steering wheel, the driver could be in violation of this statute.

Other violations of this occur when a driver has a large box or object loaded in the front seat that both obstructs the driver's view and is so large it does not give the driver sufficient room to safely control the steering wheel.

Operating our motor vehicles in a safe manner requires we have clear vision all around our vehicle and have unobstructed control of the steering wheel. Ensuring compliance with this statute only adds to the safety of everyone.

Philip Hartsfield is

assistant chief of the Hays Police Department.