Local woman 'lucky to be alive' after ice pierces her windshield on I-87

As Ballston Spa woman was driving to work this morning when, she said, a huge sheet of ice flew off of the tractor trailer truck in front of her and smashed right through her windshield.

Catherine Hackert emailed us to recount the incident, attaching photos to illustrate the dramatic effect of the incident.

She called herself "lucky to be alive," saying it was fortunate the ice pierced the windshield at a vertical angle. "If it had come in horizontally, I would have been decapitated," she wrote.

Miraculously, she said, she only suffered minor injuries.

Warren County Sheriff's deputies responded to the scene and she did file a report, but since the truck driver did not do anything wrong, according to the deputies, no charges were filed.

Hackert said she hopes that her experience can influence the Legislature to pass a law that would make it illegal to drive with ice and snow on your vehicle.

Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco proposed a law a few years back that would force drivers to clean off the snow and ice from their roofs or be fined. The bill has been stalled in a committee, but after we showed him Catherine's pictures, Tedisco said he will push to include tractor trailers in the legislation.

Truck drivers, on the other hand, are not in support of the bill. "We recognize it's a concern and should be addressed but it's not safe, and it's difficult to get a driver up on top of the truck to clean it," said the executive director for the New York State Motor Truck Association.

 Share your thoughts: Have you had similar experiences with ice flying off the vehicle in front of you and smashing into your own car? Should lawmakers pass a bill requiring all drivers to clean off their cars? Leave your comments below!