MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – This time of year, sadly, we’ve had to cover many cars that fell through the ice.

Andrea Good in Golden Valley, Minn., asked: What happens to cars that fall through? Are they towed out in spring, or do they stay there?

The cars are towed out well before spring. Minnesota law requires vehicles to be towed out within 30 days.

Sometimes insurance will pay for it, and, obviously, it’s very expensive.

If you don’t do it, the local unit of government can, and they might charge you two to five times the cost of removal.

Kevin in Minneapolis wondered: Why is there a “remove [credit] card quickly” advisory at gas pumps?

It’s all about getting a consistent speed to make the machine read your credit card stripe. In an ATM machine, a motor pulls in your card at a steady speed, and it reads your number on the way in.

On a gas pump, it reads your card on the way out. You can’t stutter, or it won’t read the data. Moving the card quickly tends to generate a consistent, uniform read.

You could, however, remove the card slowly, if you have a very steady hand.