Ice flying from truck injures Pa. ambulance driver

I smell a get rich quick lawsuit!

 

Funny.. we didn't make the news last year when we were hit by ice that flew off of a passenger vehicle causing THIS damage:

We were asked what company the truck was from that the ice slid off of.. and when we told them it was a SUV the police claimed it was an act of nature and they couldn't do anything.. that was also in PA. One thing it did teach us though, after having this happen to us and nearly losing control of the truck, is that whenever we have ice on our trailer we will find someplace to get it cleaned off even if it comes out of our own pocket.

 

It's the law here to clean your vehicle of snow and ice before you go on the road but THEY NEVER ENFORCE IT!!!! I've been blinded many times by tons of snow blowing off cars in my face... chunks of hardened snow smashing on my hood... frustrating... wish the cops would get after them... and the ones who drive with their brights on 24/7... and the drunks... and leave everyone else alone (speeders, mostly)

 

I have yet to figure how a driver can safely climb onto the roof of a ice/snow covered trailer and clean it off. Neither have SMART legislators. Maybe thats why we don't have those laws here.

 

If you'd ever been here, you'd see how. There are devices at the sides of a ton of yards and large wholesale places where there are lots of deliveries where you can easily safely walk up the metal stairs, walk along a platform and clean off the snow. Don't they have those down there?

I've seen them used at many truck depots, rest stops, large wholesale depots, etc. many times.

And it's usually the CARS that are the worst offenders, not the trucks. I'll see if I can find a picture of one to show you.

 

Thanks, minpins, for offering to search for a picture! Pennsylvania played with some sort of snow/ice removal law last year and it sure didn't seem very practical to me for big trucks. I do know that the local police stop four-wheelers here if you're not properly cleaned.

 

It's a huge set of steps leading to a long platform, all made of steel/iron, and you walk up the steps then reach over with your shovel/broom, start cleaning off the trailer then walk onto the trailer when it's clear there to move to get the rest of the trailer. I never knew what they were until I saw them in use.

I wish I knew the name of them, though...

They use them to fill fuel tankers, too, so no one slips and falls. Argh... I'll have to take a pic of one to show you.

 

Me neither... gives me vertigo thinking about it!

 

Well, I don't know about anyone else, but it seems to me the top of an icy trailer would not exactly be the safest thing to be walking on to try to clear the ice off. I'm not talking about powder snow, but once it ices up on top, how do you get the ice off? And what about those fiberglass transluscent roofs? Will they support the weight of someone standing on them trying to clear them off?

For once, I'm not being a smartazz here, I'm serious.