ST. LOUIS—A Barnhart woman received a scare on I-55 Wednesday when ice and snow from a van cracked her windshield.
Miriah Alverson posted on Facebook that she was on her way home from work on I-55 near the Imperial exit when “a massive ice sheet” slid off a minivan that was two lanes over.
She explained it hit the ground and split into several huge pieces, including one that went through her windshield.
Alverson tells Spectrum News she hopes her incident can bring awareness to others so this doesn’t happen to someone else.
“I was nowhere near the vehicle the ice came off of, so even staying away from other vehicles isn't necessarily going to help avoid situations like this,” said Alverson.
She added that the incident happened so fast that she barely had time to react.
One picture she shared shows shards of glass on her lap. She said she had to pull glass out of her hands and throw her purse away because there was so much glass in it.
The Missouri Highway Patrol is reminding drivers to make sure they completely clear snow and ice from your vehicles, including windows, roof and lights.
But Alverson’s story isn’t unique. According to AAA, almost 50% of crashes in bad weather happen during winter. Among those crashes are instances where snow and ice slide off the top of a vehicle, slamming into the car behind them.
Remember to clear the top of your vehicle while you’re defrosting it, otherwise you’ll risk it dislodging during your drive, and run the chance of it causing property damage to others. Even if snow and ice don’t fall off during your drive, light snow can blow off, reducing drivers' visibility around you.