Man injured after sheet of ice crashes into van in Massachusetts, truck driver fined
BROOKFIELD - Maybe miraculously, Devin O'Brien was already back to work for Sherman Oil Company one day after he narrowly escaped serious injury when a giant sheet of ice hit his car.
O'Brien was traveling for work on Route 9 in Brookfield when police say a large sheet of ice flew off the top of an oncoming tractor trailer as it passed a curve.
Ice damages windshield, hood
The ice smashed into O'Brien's van, shattering his headlight, hood, and windshield, and leaving him bleeding and bruised.
"It was scary! I could've died," he told WBZ. "I mean, it feels like for probably hours yesterday I felt like I got hit with a baseball bat."
Witness Eugene Mikkila, who was driving right behind O'Brien, said the crash looked like it happened "in slow motion." Mikkila said the sheet of ice was likely six feet long, split in two pieces in the air, and came darting at O'Brien's car "like arrows."
"I was shaking," Mikkila said. "I thought he died."
After helping O'Brien and making sure 911 was called, Mikkila chased down the truck, but was unable to track it. Brookfield police said the 18-wheeler did not stop, and that there's a high chance the driver didn't even know he or she had caused the crash.
"More investigation is needed to determine if the operator knew that that ice had come off or if he had no idea and was just driving," Chief Michael Blanchard told WBZ.
Blanchard agreed that O'Brien is lucky to only have lacerations and some bruising. "It could've been a lot worse," he said. "Had that piece of ice hit the car probably two to three feet higher, it would've gone right through the windshield."
Surveillance video of tractor-trailer
All three men, the chief, the witness, and O'Brien, have the same message for drivers. "This is such an easily avoidable situation," the chief said. "Clean off your cars, clean off your truck. It can cause some serious injury and death, if not taken care of."
"There's a law for a reason, for these people to clean off their vehicles," O'Brien said. "I mean I've seen it on a highway, but I never thought I'd run into this problem like on a normal town road."
"Break the ice, do what you have to do, you know?" Mikkila added. "It's not worth a life."
Citation issued
Police tracked down the truck on Wednesday. Investigators used GPS technology to find the U.S. Xpress truck in Maine.
The driver told police he was unaware that ice fell off the truck. He was issued a $200 citation for failure to secure a load.
