A good friend of mine was injured by ice falling off of an oncoming semi truck.
See the videos with his story while it is still online....

Driver injured by falling ice - WGN

Suburban man may lose sight after accident - 1/06/10 - Chicago News - abc7chicago.com

Driver Severely Injured By Ice Flying Off Truck - cbs2chicago.com

The story here:

AURORA, Ill. - Driving in bad weather can be hazardous enough, but there's an additional danger that drivers might not be thinking about.

"I thought I was going to die," Peter Marano said. "The impact was so bad and the pain was so severe."

To say that Peter is lucky to be alive is an understatement. He is in his Aurora home recovering from a terrifying incident when a large piece of ice fell off the top of an oncoming truck, passing under an overpass.The ice exploded into the air, causing a big chunk to crash into Maraon's driver's side windshield.

"The ice unfortunately hit directly into the windshield, directly in front of me." Marano said.

Stunned, nearly unconcious, and covered in blood, other motorists who saw the accident rushed to help Marano.

Marano's face is now covered with stitches that span across the left side of his face.
He'll have to undergo several months of recovery in order to heal from his injuries, including lacerations on his nose, his eyelid and cheekbones.

Several tiny shards of glass flew into his left eye, cutting his lid and tearing his iris.
Surgeons opened the left eye to remove the glass, but that eye remains bloodied and sealed shut. Doctors said his vision may be damaged permanently.

His nose was smashed and broken in several pieces and required a two-hour surgery to be reconstructed.
The bone section below his left eye socket, known as the orbital, also was shattered.

Currently there are no laws in Illinois requiring motorists to clean off their cars.
Officials said it is up to the drivers to take responsibility for cleaning off their vehicles.

 

I'll keep him in my prayers buddy...

 

Adding to JHM2K
My prayers as well Gary.

This is proof positive, the world is simply not a safe place for humans.


roadster with a stick

 

I am very sorry your friend was hut, but it has to be some kind of miracle that he survived that ordeal.

Please convey my best wishes for a speedy recovery.

 

man, that is an incredible story, Gary,and my prayers go with the others to your friend. Hope everything comes out ok. Mark

 

Hopefully he will see again. This makes one wonder if it's time to do some things you've always wanted to do.

I stay clear of visible snow on top of vehicles at all costs. I've been hit by ice hard but never to your friend's extent.

D.C. might become first to require clearing of ice from vehicles | Washington Examiner

 

As an additional caution... I beg you all to NOT cruise along, pacing large trucks. Convertibles and motorcycles are at greatest risk, but all vehicles are at risk if ice falls or a tire blows out.

This point was driven home on a trip back to GA from MI a few years ago. We were southbound on I75 in mountains. Three lanes, I and a motorcycle were in the left lane, a semi in the middle lane.


I was 1/4 back in light traffic from the bike. As the bike passed the truck, a tractor tire blew, throwing tread out behind the bike and ahead of me. The biker would have been in real trouble, but maybe it would have taken my windsheild out as well!


DO NOT PACE BIG TRUCKS IN ANY WEATHER AT ANY SPEED!

 

Ouch!
Didn't seem so bad till he took the bandage off!

 

Note:
The ice fell from an oncoming semi truck and that contributed to the force of the impact.
It actually bent the steering wheel.
This happened just down the street from our houses on a 2 lane road.

 

Gary sorry to hear about your friend as others here I will keep him in my prayers and hope his sight will be normal

Howard.

 

Wow, what an amazing story, I wish your friend the best for a speedy recovery.

I think it should be the personal responsibility of individulas to clear off their vehicles, but if it is continuously snowing on the road, a semi is going to build up precipitation over the miles and eventually it will fall. I am not sure there is a good solution for truckers that are on the road in inclement weather almost constantly.....

 

So glad I don't have to drive to get to work. I used to see this all the time on the Washington area beltway. Trucks, SUV and even cars doing 40-50 and they don't clean the snow from their cars and you see it fly up in the air and then comes down and hits whatever is behind it.
I hope your friend has a speedy recovery, he is in my prayers. The rest of you, please be careful out there!

 

Exactly how would truckers accomplish his task?

A trailer can be 53 feet long, 8 feet wide and 13 to 14 feet high off the ground.

On top of that it's roof will not support his weight. How many truckers would be injured falling off their trailers?

It is a delimma. Best we just give them distance and...respect.
Without the work of hard driving OTR truckers we, as a nation, come to a stop.

roadster with a stick

 

Sorry to hear about your friend and wishing him a speedy recovery.

 

I've seen ice being shed from high speed vehicles in Indiana, Iowa and Texas, and the larger the vehicle ,the larger the sheets of ice. Ice storms and melting/freezing snow allows this to happen on all vehicles that are parked outside. When those vehicles are warmed and driven at high speeds, they present a danger to all who are in the presence of those vehicles.

No matter how many laws are passed, this condition will continue to exist. Your best protection is to not drive or drive defensively if you have to. Even then, you don't know what's coming around the corner. My best wishes to your friend, and hopes for a speedy and total recovery.

naughteven

 

Gary, I saw this report on the news last night. Didn't know you know him. He's in my prayers.

I hope he recovers his vision from the left eye.

 

Perhaps Skyshadow!

 

Hoping for a speedy recovery for your friend Gary.

 

Best wishes for your friend's quick and full recovery Gary.

I've seen more stuff fall off big semi's than you'd think is possible (so has Iamfink! )......it's precisely for that reason that I try to avoid them like the plague.

 

Deicing machines at truck stops much like the airports ... again very expensive