Aurora Man Sustains Facial Injuries When Ice From Semi-Truck Falls through His Car Windshield
Peter Morano underwent facial surgery last week for injuries he sustained when a sheet of ice fell from a semi-truck crashed through his vehicle’s windshield. The Aurora injury accident happened between Illinois Route 59 and Eola Road last Monday morning. The ice came off the commercial vehicle, which was covered with a foot-and-a-half of ice and snow, as it drove under a viaduct.
Morano compares what happened to an “explosion,” with “blood and glass everywhere.” He says that as he stopped his vehicle, other motorists rushed from their cars with rags to help stop the bleeding from his wounds. According to the Chicago Tribune, the truck driver kept on driving.
Doctors were concerned that the violent impact may have given Morano a traumatic brain injury, but tests results fortunately show otherwise. However, his nose, which was broken and smashed in a number of places, had to be reconstructed. He also shattered the orbital, which is under his left eye socket, and glass bits tore his iris and cut his eyelid. He may have permanent vision damage. Morano had to have stitches on his face.
His wife Debbie says other people she has talked to have experienced ice flying off motor vehicles. She doesn’t see why a commercial truck can’t be de-iced.
Currently, there is no law mandating that people remove the ice from their autos. However, snow on top of vehicles has proven to be dangerous on more than one occasion. In 2005, a woman died after a 9-foot ice piece came off an 18-wheeler truck, striking another truck’s windshield. The impact of the crash caused the second truck driver to lose control of the vehicle, which then collided into the woman’s auto.
Ice shatters man's face while driving in Aurora, Chicago Sun-Times, January 7, 2010
Aurora driver seriously hurt in ice accident, Chicago Tribune, January 7, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
Driving in Snow and Ice, The Weather Channel
Chicago, Illinois truck crash lawyer Steve Malman represents victims and their families in Cook County, Will County, DuPage County, and Lake County.
