trailer manufactures need to raise the center of roof the trailer about an inch or so. This would allow water, moisture to run off. Remember tje roof would have to slope. It would help alot. Right now the roofs are flat and water/snow/ice has know where to go, so the moisture sets and builds up until it gets high and heavy to fly off. Slope the roofs, just alittle would help just like a house.

Thanks for the information. I appreciate you taking the time to read and post a comment.

I am an owner of a Auto Glass company in Omaha, NE. We are seeing an increased number of potentially life threatening incidents like the one you wrote about. In the last 3 weeks, at least 6 cars with completely cracked out windshields from flying ice on the interstates have been in our shop. Most of them were not drivable-having to be towed to our shop. The driver being extremely fortunate to have avoided an accident from the incident or in one case...the windshield cracked completely through on the passenger side. Much to the dismay of the victim...most claims were not covered by the truck's insurance company as the insurance company stated that there was no proof that the ice flew off that particular vehicle! Absolutely some legislation is needed!

Interesting. This seems to be a bigger deal than the original stories seem to indicate. Thanks for taking the time to read and post.

Another message I got. Thanks for taking the time. I would suggest contacting your local legislator.
From P Jones
Subject: Flying ice
Body: I am very upset about the flying ice problems. Yesterday I was driving down the expressway when a 4ft section of ice flew off of an SUV several car lengths in front of me and hit my car with an incredible amount of force. I saw it fly off the car high into the air and could do nothing. It hit my front grill and passenger side headlight, totally destroying them. I am just lucky that is all it did. I was so mad. Why can't people clean off their cars. The problem is not just trucks. It can be any vehicle: trucks, SUVs, and even buses. I see a lot of school buses with ice and snow on their roofs. Fortunately, most school buses are not going at high speeds. It makes me mad that innocent people die, get injured, and in my case, have to pay for others laziness and stupidity. What can I do to get something done about this problem? I decided to try to put my anger to some use. I wonder how often things like this happen, and people just say to themselves there is nothing than I can do.
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Ice and snow are problems with ALL vehicles - not just trucks. The question is, what can be done about it? The answer is, not a whole lot; at least not in practical terms. There are scrapers that will remove snow, but ice is generally stuck on too tight for them to be effective. The only truly effective way of dealing with this would be electrically heated trailer roofs, sides, and bottoms. The cost of operating such a trailer would be prohibitive, not even including the cost of equipping a trailer.

It's unlikely that truck drivers are even aware that they have an ice buildup on their trailers. In a short space of time, trucks can go through rapidly changing weather conditions. Mountainous terrain is a particular problem area for ice buildup and shedding. Go up a mountain, rain changes to snow, and freezes on the trailer. Go back down, and it melts some, and falls off.

So, what do you do?

The best solution, is to stay well away from ANY vehicle likely to shed ice. If you're passing, get out in the other lane well in advance of overtaking. When you pass, do so expeditiously. Not only can trucks shed ice from their roofs, they can also pick up chunks between dual tires, and throw them out. Mud flaps catch much of that, but a big chunk coming out at just the wrong time can bounce under the flap, or even rip a mud flap right off it's brackets.

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Interesting thoughts. I appreciate you taking the time to read and add a comment.