Reading PA Fire Department

A chunk of ice flew off the top of a tractor trailer on the Warren Street By-pass this morning around 10:00 and struck the roof and windshield of a passenger car injuring the female driver and smashing the roof of the vehicle in. Engine 11, Rescue 1, Medic 601 and Car 7 responded.

Firefighters had to cut the roof off the vehicle to remove the victim. Once the roof was removed they strapped the patient to a backboard and slid her out the rear of the vehicle. Units were on the scene for about 30 minutes. There were no other injuries reported.

The incident was a common one occurring on local highways since the snow and ice storm that blanketed the area February 14. Last week a similar incident shut down the Pennsylvania Turnpike after a sheet of ice broke loose from a tractor trailer and smashed through the windshield of a tanker carrying 1,800 gallons of xylene. The driver lost control of the vehicle and the tanker turned over.

In November 2006, a law went into effect making it punishable by a $200 to $1,000 fine if ice or snow detaches from your vehicle and strikes a person or another vehicle and causes death, property damage or serious bodily injury.

The victim in today's incident reportedly told rescuers that the truck kept going. Thanks to FF D. Marks for providing information for this article.

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