At anytime, snowflakes could begin falling. Temperatures are gradually falling and although no significant frost has occurred, it's a matter of time before we have our sidewalks to shovel and cars to clear.

Speaking of cars, virtually every town has different regulations during periods of snow. Some have odd-even parking. Do you park on the odd-numbered side of the street when it snows or the even-numbered side?Some towns have specific streets that have parking rules.Do the parking rules come into effect if it snows two inches? If it merely begins snowing?There are towns where you only have to have your car moved by 8 a.m. (or is it 7 a.m.) the morning after two inches of snow fall.Every year, the governing bodies of some of these municipalities vow to better define parking rules during snowstorms. Then it stops snowing and so ends the dialogue.If you've moved to a new town since last winter, you better check on the winter parking regulations. They're probably different from the town in which you've last resided.If you don't comply with the parking regulations, will you get a ticket? Will your car be towed? If it's towed, can the borough officials tell you how much it's going to cost to get your car released.Frankly, if municipalities order towing for such things as snow emergencies, they ought to have an agreement with the wrecker service. It's possible more than one service is utilized and your neighbor's car might be towed by Company A with a charge of $50 and your car might be towed by Company B and a charged of $175. The difference among towing companies for towing and storage really can be that different, and that's why borough councils should be more serious about towing companies.Are winter parking regulations properly posted? Is the language clear on them?Do you know the parking rules in your town? If not, your municipal leaders deserve a failing mark for communicating with the people who they represent.By RON GOWERrgower@tnonline.com