STATEWIDE – If you’ve been on social media lately, you’ve probably seen this photo circulating from last weekend. “I think I was just … in disbelief and shocked,” Kristen Harmon said, standing next to her car at her parents’ auto body shop.
Harmon said she was driving south on Interstate 95 in Houlton when all of a sudden a chunk of ice flew off the car in front of her.
“When the ice chunk hit my car I don’t know how I stayed in the lane driving. I thought enough to put on my caution lights,” she said.
Harmon said she was able to flag down the driver.
“The other driver pulled over and she was wonderful. She got out of the car and immediately we both were kind of in shock and I didn’t know ice could do that much damage to someone’s car,” she said.
Maine State Police Trooper David Olmstead said he usually sees snow falling off cars, often after a big storm, and it’s a real hazard.
“Any time that you’re creating an unsafe situation for motorists on the road, certainly there’s penalties that could be applied,” said Olmstead.
As for Harmon, she’s okay.
“Everyone kind of forgets or gets in a hurry or doesn’t even realize they have a taller vehicle, but obviously it’s really important. It could have been a different outcome,” said Harmon.
Olmstead said when storms strike, motorists should give themselves plenty of time to clear off the car. He said most often when he pulls people over, it is just to remind them of the danger and impact this could have.
“You know, we’re not looking to go out and write a bunch of tickets over this issue. Clearly educating the public is something important to us,” he said.
