Flying Ice Slab Breaks Woman’s Eye Socket On Road As Officials Try Addressing Problem
Photo not from story. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images)
A Pennsylvania woman suffered a broken eye socket after a large slab of ice flew off a tractor-trailer and crashed through her windshield while she was driving Saturday morning.
Madeline Grace told CBS News Pittsburgh that she was driving when the ice struck her face, shattering her eye socket and fracturing her nose, WFMZ reported. She received treatment at a local hospital for her injuries. Grace’s 7-year-old daughter was in the backseat at the time, but fortunately, she was unharmed.
“Just so grateful that I blocked that from going in the backseat and hitting my daughter,” Grace said. She added that while her daughter cried after seeing her mother injured, she has been coping fairly well.
“She told me, ‘worst day ever, Mommy.’ I said, ‘yeah, it was pretty rough for me too, baby.’ Overall, she’s handling it really well,” Grace explained.
Grace described the moment the ice slab struck as terrifying and sudden. “Every time I close my eyes, I see that chunk of ice coming at me,” she said. “I just remember seeing that ice coming through the air like this, flipping over and over. I just remember thinking there wasn’t time to do anything.”
The crash occurred despite Pennsylvania passing Christine’s Law in 2022. Under the law, drivers can face a $50 fine for failing to remove snow or ice from their vehicles. If falling ice or snow causes injury or property damage, fines can reach up to $1,500. The law was named after Christine Lambert, who died after ice fell from a truck and struck her windshield.
A similar proposal is being considered in Maryland. Democratic State Delegate Edith Patterson introduced House Bill 474, which would require drivers to clear snow and ice from the hood, trunk, windshield, windows, and roof of their vehicles to prevent injuries, according to the Capital Gazette. While clearing snow is recommended in Maryland, it is not currently a legal requirement.
Other states, including Alaska, Connecticut, Tennessee, and Wisconsin, have laws that prohibit driving with snow on vehicles.
Grace told CBS News Pittsburgh that laws are meaningless if people don’t follow them and argued that the challenge of removing ice isn’t an excuse for neglecting it.
“I have more sympathy for the people that are driving, minding their own business, had zero choice in the matter, and are now injured, possibly permanently,” she said.
State police are searching for the truck responsible for the incident, CBS News Pittsburgh reported.
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