Snow Danger

It's been a pet peeve of mine for some time.

The law says you have to clear your car of snow and ice before you get on the road. Somehow, trucks have been allowed to skate for years. We've seen cases of snow and ice chunks blowing off and causing damage to vehicles behind. There was even a fatality here in our area a few years back.

I'm pragmatic. Shoveling the top of a huge trailer must be a bear, but what is the cost of safety? What is the cost of a human life?

Can someone invent a drive under scraper?  A heater?  I wonder how other states handle it.

The truck you see above scattered snow for several miles, and there is still a big pile on the top, waiting to blow off and land in someone's path-- or in their windshield.

Winter is just beginning. I know there have been efforts in the state legislature to correct the practice.

Below is a PennLive.com story from last year.




By Christian Alexandersen | calexandersen@pennlive.com
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on February 26, 2015 at 8:45 AM, updated February 26, 2015 at 11:04 AM

Don't feel like cleaning off the snow and ice from your car? That would end up in fine if one Pennsylvania senator gets her way.

Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Lehigh County, has reintroduced a bill that would require drivers to make "all reasonable efforts" to remove all ice or snow from their vehicles. Drivers would face fines of between $25 and $75 for not clearing off snow from their vehicles, including the roof, hood and trunk.

Currently, drivers can only be fined when dislodged snow or ice falls from their vehicles and causes death or serious bodily injury. Boscola also upped the maximum fines for when those incidents occur from $1,000 to $1,500 in the new bill.

Recently, Boscola reintroduced a similar bill that would fine truck drivers for not clearing the snow and ice from their rigs.
"Many times while driving on our roadways, we have all been the victim of falling snow and ice coming from vehicles in front of us," Boscola said in a memo about her bill. "This is not only extremely dangerous, but can lead to injuries and fatalities."

Boscola has said that she first proposed the bills after one of her constituents was killed in 2005 when an "ice missile" fell off a tractor-trailer and struck her vehicle.

Both bills have been sent to the Pennsylvania Senate Transportation Committee for review. Previously, the bills have died in the same committee.


It seems like we do a good job of making beer available everywhere, but saving a life is another story.