Ice sheets cause alarm

By DEVIN WEEKS

Hagadone News Network

A vehicle is traveling on a highway, its roof covered in ice from last week's snow.

Little pieces begin to break, leaping into the wind. Suddenly, the whole thing slides off, just missing the nearest vehicle that had to swerve on cold, slick roads to avoid being hit by the sheet of ice.

"A friend had posted on Facebook that she very narrowly avoided a collision with it and barely got out of the way," said Darren Thiesen of Coeur d'Alene. "I haven’t had any experiences with it personally, it just scares the crap out of me."

Thiesen, owner of Hayden Independent Auto Service, said Wednesday that he is concerned by the amount of people in North Idaho driving vehicles loaded with these ice sheets. He said he and his crew frequently have to pull cars into his garage and clear the potentially dangerous ice from roofs before they can even begin to work on them.

"There’s a huge number of cars on the road. When these ice sheets have been on the cars for a long time, they don't come off in little pieces when they're removed. They come off in 10-pound chunks, and these are on cars that haven't been cleared after a thaw and refreeze.

"They're flat chunks. Because it's a sheet, it can catch air really easily and fly into the air and land on another vehicle traveling at 70 miles an hour," he said. "I know there have been fatalities in some states from ice hitting the drivers."

As temperatures inch up to 40 degrees and hover in the mid- to upper-30s, the compacted ice and snow that remains on the tops of vehicles from the last snow will begin to lose its grip.

"When I get on a highway especially, I get really nervous if I get behind a car that clearly has a layer of compact snow on top," Thiesen said. "I see the chunks in the road that are clearly from the rooftops on vehicles."

This issue is illustrated in several photos and videos online where drivers capture other vehicles or even their own vehicles suffering damage from ice released from other cars, trucks and SUVs.

The topic sparked a social media conversation when Taryn Thompson of Rathdrum posted a photo she took at a stop light of icy snow piled more than a foot on the vehicle in front of her.

"I think blocks of snow and ice should be considered unsecured loads," she wrote. "Glad I made it all the way to Post Falls without the mess on top of their car coming through my windshield."

She said she kept her distance, but she was expecting that icy chunk to come off at any time.

"It'd be about the same as hitting a tree," she said in a phone interview with The Press. "I don't know if there's a law against it. You can't legislate common sense."

According to Idaho Statute 49-612 under Rules of the Road in Chapter 6, "No vehicle shall be operated when the windshield and/or windows of the vehicle are coated with ice, snow, sleet, or dust to the extent that the driver’s view ahead, or to the sides or rear of the vehicle are obstructed."

This doesn't require people to clear snow from areas that don't obstruct vision, such as roofs, hoods and trunks. In some states, such as Pennsylvania, drivers are fined up to $1,000 if snow or ice dislodges from a moving vehicle and hurts someone.

"There isn't anything (in Idaho) that says you have to have everything cleared off," said Coeur d'Alene Police Det. Jared Reneau. "The only thing I'm aware of is for visibility purposes."

He said increasing the following distance would significantly help when drivers see another vehicle with compact snow and ice on top.

"It starts with being aware of your surroundings, particularly the traffic in front of you," he said.

Thiesen said he believes most people are unaware of the problem and underestimate its risks. Communicating to friends and loved ones about the potential dangers of ice on their cars will help, he said.

Drivers can use de-icer sprays or let their cars warm up to break up the ice before driving, he said.

But the best way to prevent it from occurring in the first place is to "get the snow off the car right after it snows. Don't wait."

"My recommendation is that people buy a broom-type snowbrush that’s a big foam shovel on a long stick," he said. "You can clear a large vehicle quickly without a lot of effort and you can clear the roof and hard-to-reach places."