With several months of sub-zero mornings ahead of us, Fiona Campbell hopes her unfortunate experience will serve as a lesson for those fighting frozen windscreens.
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Like many, Ms Campbell used her car heater and demister to clear her windscreen but she made one critical error; she walked away from her car and it was stolen.
Frosty mornings in the territory are nothing new and generations of Canberrans have crafted their own techniques to get their cars back into working order.
ACT Policing recommends their tailor-made "handy ice-scrapers" and have promised to hand them out at their next southside project plate-safe meeting on August 9.
But the freebie comes with a warning; drive with ice or frost on your windscreen and you could be lumped with an $80 fine.
Others have their own preferred method, like one reporter at this website who covers his windscreen with methylated spirits before driving to work.
"No good for your wipers, but kills frost," he said.
Others recommend placing a newspaper or potato sack on the windscreen overnight removing the possibility of ice forming underneath.
Pouring warm water onto windscreens has proved controversial with many fearing it may provide a thermal shock to the glass, causing cracks.
While it's true the thermal shock from hot water on a frozen windscreen could, technically, crack it, many are happy to take the risk as windscreens have become stronger in recent years.
But Canberra police beg to differ and have their own recommendation.
"The best thing to do is give yourself plenty of time in the morning to properly clear the frost from your windscreen without having to leave it alone to warm up," said a spokesman.
But whatever method you choose, Ms Campbell is urging you to keep a close watch on your car.
"A day after the theft I was on my way to work with a friend and we noticed several cars sitting in driveways defrosting, waiting for another mongrel to come along," she said.
