Continuity mistake: When Neal and Del are waiting for Owen in the Braidwood parking lot, a couple of the cars change type and position between the overhead shot when Neal says "Just get me to the train station" and when we see Owen's truck pulling up. There was not enough time between shots for any cars to have moved.
Plot hole: After the car burns, and they arrive at the motel, Neal only has $17.00 on him and nothing but melted credit cards, forcing him to give up his watch to help pay for the room. Del only has $2.00 but his watch doesn't quite flip the bill. At this point, between Neal and Del, they only have $2.00. However, when Neal invites Del into the room, so he doesn't freeze to death, they are eating Doritos and drinking shooters. Even in 1987 Doritos and a bunch of shooters must have cost more than $2.00. This is assuming Del didn't already have them in his trunk. But even if he did, at the end, Neal gets on his train, makes a return trip to find Del just where he thought he'd be, and then they'd both have to get back onto that train. After all, they both showed up at Neal's home. Once again, It would take money to get on that train. Four train fares with only $2.00. Neal's first trip, return trip, and Neal with Del for the last trip = four fares.
Continuity mistake: When Neal is walking to the space where his rental car is supposed to be, he looks down as he walks past stalls V-2 and V-3, yet after V-3 he passes two more cars before arriving at stall V-5.
Continuity mistake: When Neal is scanning the parking spaces in the rental car lot, the shot switches to Neal's POV and back. When the camera is on Neal, he walks completely past the Mercury Sable in stall V-2, yet when it switches to his POV he's only just beginning to pass the same spot. As he approaches V-3 in the POV shot, the camera switches again and he's now well past it.
Answer: The reason was that the snowbank was on his side (the passenger side) when it should have been on the driver's side if they were driving in the right direction. Also and I'm not sure if you could see this in the film but the deflecters on the road which separate the lanes if you are going in the right direction shine yellow and if you are going the wrong way shine red.
Tobin OReilly