HASTINGS, Minn. - Last weekend's big spring storm continues to make an impact on motorists... an extremely dangerous impact.
The Dakota County Sheriff's Department posted pictures on Twitter of a squad car that had its windshield smashed by a chunk of ice that flew off the top of a semi.
On Tuesday morning, Dakota County Sheriff’s Office Park Ranger Samantha Mamer was driving on Hwy. 50 near New Trier, Minn., when she encountered a semi-trailer truck driving in the opposite direction.
Suddenly, Mamer saw a significant chunk of ice falling towards her car.
“Hit me right in the driver’s side, upper corner windshield,” Mamer said, pointing to where the ice cracked the glass and shattered the windshield.
“It could’ve [come] all the way in, I could’ve ended up with a face full of glass,” she said, noting that she only received a slight “prick” on her finger from picking the glass off her body.
Fortunately, Mamer said she was able to safely reach a parking lot without causing any further distractions.
“I could’ve driven off the road or overcorrected myself… Or caused an accident behind me [if] I [had] slammed on my brakes right away. So I’m glad that was just it,” she said.
That deputy was not alone.
Another motorist named Thomas Cornelius submitted of his vehicle after a huge chunk of ice slid off a semi truck and into his windshield while driving down I-694 in Shoreview.
"I swerved just enough so that the brunt of the impact hit my passenger side windshield more than the driver's side," Cornelius wrote. "The damage is very very intense and the windshield is completely caved in. I am lucky to be unhurt, and had I not swerved, I may not be here."
It is a misdemeanor to allow snow or ice to blow off your vehicle, as stated in the Minnesota littering statute. Truck drivers are also subject to federal regulations.