Being too lazy to clean the ice from your vehicle can prove extremely dangerous to other road users and may even cost human lives.
Think we’re overreacting? A Massachusetts driver of a 2019 Ram 1500 would beg to differ as he suffered serious injuries caused by an ice sheet that smashed into his pickup truck’s windshield. A large section of it pierced through the glass and hit the man in the face, causing several facial lacerations.
The ice sheet fell from the top of a box truck that was traveling ahead of the Ram 1500 on Route 3 in Burlington, Massachusetts. Also present in the pickup were the driver’s 38-year-old wife, their 3-year-old boy and 18-month female toddler. All of them were transported by ambulance to Massachusetts General Hospital, the man with serious injuries, the woman and boy with minor injuries, and the uninjured toddler for precautionary reasons.
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Photo courtesy of the Burlington Fire Department
The suspected box truck carried on as if nothing happened but a Massachusetts State Police trooper managed to stop it several minutes after the incident, thanks to assistance from a witness.
It turned out to be a moving truck with a New Hampshire registration, driven by a 55-year-old man who claimed he was unaware of the presence of ice on the roof of the truck. Still, that does not exonerate him from the obligation to check for ice buildup on the vehicle before each drive, especially considering that trucks offer massive real estate for ice sheets to form. The operator walked away with warnings for having an unsecured load and impeded operation.
“This serious incident could have been much worse if not for the quick thinking of the driver, who quickly pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road,” said Burlington Fire Department Chief Michael Patterson. “This is an example of the importance of clearing ice and snow off of the roof of your vehicle, and the dangers that can occur if snow and ice fall off of a vehicle while it is being driven.”
Photo courtesy of Massachusetts State Police