I'm from Minnesota and have put in 100,000+ miles of driving there, much of it in the winter. I'm not sure how I feel about removing trees and other side-of-the-road obstacles, but just wanted to point out that it's possible in very bad conditions to drift off the road, spin out on the highway, rear-end the car ahead, etc. even if you're being extremely cautious. I hit black ice at 30 mph on the highway and my car rotated a full 540 degrees, but fortunately didn't end up in a ditch. Sometimes conditions and visibility can be so bad in Minnesota, that I don't think any outsider can understand how difficult it is just to stay on the road. I've taken drives where you see cars in the ditch every quarter mile. I rear-ended a guy once, but he wasn't even angry because he saw my car slide slowly toward him from at least 50 feet away.
I understand the need for life to go on in places with hostile weather, and also that unexpected situations come up.
But at some point, a reasonable standard must be set, and if you can't drive safely you shouldn't be driving. Clearing obstructions on the side of the road won't really help if you're spinning out of control on a busy highway.
