LexFather

http://www.chicagotribune.com/...story

When Peter Morano recalls the terrifying car accident, he refers to it as the "white bomb."

On Monday morning, Morano was driving his car east on Butterfield Road in Aurora when his windshield was struck by an explosion of snow and ice. As a westbound semitrailer drove under an overpass, a large block of ice flew off the truck top and torpedoed into Morano's windshield.

"The sheet of ice hit directly on the windshield, broke the windshield and sprayed the glass into my face," said Morano, 41, now recovering in his Aurora home.

"There was blood everywhere, pouring from my head, nose and my eye. I was scared that I was losing so much blood that I was going to die."

Morano, who was headed to the Warrenville day care center that his wife owns, immediately slammed onto the brakes. He initially feared that he was trapped because a large piece of glass had landed on his lap and was pressed against his face. But mustering some strength, he was able to push the glass away, open the door and stumble outside for help.

The truck driver continued driving west, but other drivers stopped and came to Morano's aid.

One woman, who identified herself as a nurse, applied pressure to Morano's nose, while a man called an ambulance and Morano's wife, Debbie.

Peter Morano was taken to Provena Mercy Medical Center in Aurora, where he underwent surgery. He was discharged Tuesday.

DuPage County Sheriff John Zaruba issued a statement saying he was investigating the incident and asked anyone with information to contact the office.

Witnesses were unable to provide any information on the truck other than the trailer was white, Zaruba's statement said.

Morano, the father of 8-year-old Gina and 10-year-old Rachel, said he remains in severe pain. His face is swollen and covered in stiches that stretch from the bridge of his nose across his left eyelid and out to the corner of his eye.

His nose was smashed and broken in several pieces and required a two-hour surgery to be reconstructed. The bone section below his left eye socket, known as the orbital, also was shattered.

Several tiny shards of glass flew into his left eye, cutting his lid and tearing his iris. Surgeons opened the left eye to remove the glass, but that eye remains bloodied and sealed shut. Doctors said his vision may be damaged permanently.

Remarkably, although his right eye was bruised, it was not seriously injured.

No laws in Illinois require motorists to clean snow or ice off their trucks or cars. But Debbie Morano said trucking companies should enact new rules that require drivers to clean the tops of their trucks before hitting the roads.

Last year, then- New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine signed a law that sets fines for vehicles with dangerous accumulations of snow. The law is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation.

With weather forecasters predicting a major snowstorm this week, Debbie Morano said drawing attention to the incident is even more crucial.

"There needs to be more awareness of this," she said. "Every time we've told the story, someone says, 'That happened to me,' or 'That happened to a friend of mine.' "

Matt Hart, associate director of the Mid-West Truckers Association, said that although some people have talked about requiring the removal of snow and ice from the tops of trucks, no regulation has been enacted because there is no safe way to do it.

"There is no technology and no magic bullet," Hart said. "When you clean off the top of your car, you can stand firmly on the ground to get the job done. To clean off a trailer, it would require the driver to climb 13 1/2 feet in the air and walk on snow and ice on the top of a truck.

"There might be more opportunity for accidents if individuals were required to climb on top of a truck," he said.

Still, Peter Morano said the semi driver should be held responsible for his injuries. He said it was irresponsible to drive a truck with ice on top knowing it would not pass safely under a viaduct.

"How can you go in that vehicle and drive it ... knowing that ice is not going to clear?" Morano said. "And the fact that the vehicle continued to go after it did that, and did not stop, is blatant irresponsibility. I would very much like to see that person brought to justice."

Debbie Morano said she feels torn between her frustration with the truck driver and her gratitude that her husband survived.

"I'm very grateful that it wasn't worse," she said. "But the fact that someone can just drive around like that and have no regard for where that ice is going, I think it's criminal.

"Pete could have been killed, and that keeps going through my head."

plex

iTrader: (11)

Wow that's crazy, I will be paying more attention when I drive behind any vehicles especially large ones with ice/snow up top.

Och

iTrader: (3)

I see that constantly, mostly on trucks and school buses, but also most SUVs and Minivans driven by 5'-2" ladies.

tex2670

There was an incident like this in Penna a few years ago. Penna adopted a law where truck drivers can get fined for snow/ice on top of their trucks, but in the true spirit of protecting the public, and not bowing to PAC groups, the violation is only a SECONDARY OFFENSE, so the truck driver can't be cited unless there he/she another violation.

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/...93/detail.html

tex2670

Gee--why should we climb up on those trucks? We might get hurt.

Nice

IS-SV

We've been warned. Thanks.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

that's crazy man, scary.....

MR_F1

Wow..holy effin random accident batman.

Though unfortunate, that dude is lucky. It could have been worse.

04Caddy

reminds everyone how dangerous driving can be.

JessePS

Thats why I hate driving near a semi in the winter or the summer.

LiCelsior

iTrader: (32)

i never EVER drive behind a semi...just the thought for rocks being thrown up is already dangerous.

i hope someone went after that trucker though.

Gojirra99

Well, at least he survived, it could have been lethal ...

Yep I hate those damn big trucks (carrying anything), I try to stay as far away from them as possible ...

I8ABMR

wow another great benefit of living in snowy climates. Black ice and now flying ice

trukn1

Ok,, truckers insight needed here desperately.

1. Yes it is VERY unfortunate that something like this happened to him and I wish him well on his recovery; but there is something more going on to this story that isn't being reported.

2. Tailgating a trucker in ANY instance is dangerous in itself already and winter weather only makes things worse. If his car got hit while the truck was passing under a viaduct and the ice hit "directly on his windshield", you can trust and believe that the distance he was following the truck at was TOO close.

3. For those of you who are screaming it is the drivers fault for not clearing the ice off the top of the trailer; the standard box type trailer is 13'6" high and there are NO places available ANYWHERE to remove ice/snow from the tops of trailers, just how is this driver suppose to clear it? Trailers are picked up and dropped at customer locations everywhere/everyday and while we DO as much as possible to protect the interest of public safety, we CAN'T do everything; some things are out of our control. Actually it is a VERY common practice, in an effort to try to reduce the amount of snow on top of a trailer, to SEEK OUT a low clearance bridge which is JUST barely able to clear the truck in order for some of that to be knocked off the top. I have done it myself to reduce the amount of snow flying off the top of my own trailer; and when this is done you can bet that we DON'T drive fast enough under these things to projectile hurl anything off the top of a trailer. The fact that the injured driver himself refers to the incident as the "white bomb" already suggests that even HE saw snow flying from off the top of the trailer himself. These things are NOT HARD to miss as a trailer which has to be moved and has snow blowing from the top of it practicully creates a whiteout situation for a few minutes, as the snow blows off. ANY driver with HALF a bit of common sense keeps their distance from something like this until the amount of snow that blows off disappates(normally about 5 minutes); primarily b/c they can't see anything but a white cloud of blowing snow.

4. Those of you who are screaming that the driver is responsible for the incident and needs to be brought to justice for not stopping after it happened need to take a moment to use that block on top of your shoulders for a minute to think with. Chances are the driver NEVER EVEN KNEW that there was an incident which occured behind him to begin with. Standard trailer is 53' long, 13'6" high and 102" wide, unless someone gets our attention that something took place BEHIND us that we were involved in, we NEVER know what happened. It is safe to assume, since the driver didn't stop, that no one chased him down to get his attention to alert him of what happened, but yet EVERYONE wants to call him irresponsible for not stopping.

Tops of a trailer are made of either a fiberglass material or a thin layer of sheet metal(varies depending onmanufacturer). In most cases, the tops of a trailer WILL NOT support the weight of a person standing on top of them. There IS a way to do so, but you HAVE TO KNOW exactly where the support beams are in the top of the trailer, and contrairary to what you may be thnking, NO 2 trailers are built the same. This is why we WILL NOT climb on top of them. I don't plan on falling thru the roof of a trailer, let alone falling off the roof of a trailer for anyone.

And it is those same big trucks which have made it possible for you to go to the store and buy just about ANYTHING that you own/use/consume. Take a moment to think for a second, EVERYTHING (food, gas, cloths, those shiny new gotta have rims, even your car) at some point in it's life cycle has been on the bed/trailer of a truck in order for you to have the convenience of going to the store to buy it instead of having to grow/make it yourself. Trucks move about 70% of the economy,so if WE stop moving life as you know it will change dramatically.

Honestly folks, I could stand on a soap box and preach for days about the general publics interaction with trucks and it would open your eyes. The incident COULD have been alot worse and I am glad that he survived, but looking at it from a 360 degree view, he also is to share in some of the blame in his own incident.

Am I defending all truckers,,NO!! Am I saying that we are all saints on the road and we do no wrong,, ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!! Am only saying that everyone is QUICK to blame the trucker and not look at ANY part in which the driver may have had a bit of negligence. The things I posted above are my own opinions of the entire situation. It could very well have hapened as reported, but knowing what I do know about the industry as well as the behavior of drivers(in general,,both car and truck drivers) I feel there is more to the story which hasn't been reported and he is not saying either. I SPEAK the part of a trucker b/c I LIVE the part of a trucker; hence the screen name. You ever want to get a different perspective of what WE have to go thru on a daily basis, ride with a trucker for a few days, or even stop and take time to ask a few questions. Trust me, you will gain a whole new disrespect for driving period.

Lexmex

That's awful.

When I was in Mexico, my friend Michael and I were driving up to a track event in Leon, Guanajuato well NW of Mexico City and on the way up there a semi was passing carrying gravel, some of that gravel came off the top and blasted the passenger side window of his 93 Mazda RX7 as he swerved left to avoid it, slightly injuring his teenage daughter. We got the license plate of the semi, got hold of the Federal Highway Patrol (like state troopers in the U.S.) and they eventually caught up to him. Michael didn't press charges provided the damages were paid for, but it certainly could have been worse.