A woman was injured Friday afternoon when a large sheet of ice slid off a tractor-trailer and struck her windshield along Route 22 in Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania State Police said.
Trooper Nathan Branosky, public information officer with state police Troop M, told lehighvalleylive.com the accident happened around 12:40 p.m. as the adult woman was heading westbound, near the Route 191 exit, in a Subaru Crosstrek.
The tractor trailer was heading eastbound when the ice slid off, striking the Subaru and causing the windshield to shatter, Branosky said.
The woman was injured and taken to St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill. She is expected to survive her injuries, Branosky said.
There were no passengers in the Subaru and no other injuries were reported in the accident.
The tractor-trailer driver continued driving east without stopping and Pennsylvania State Police in Bethlehem are seeking witnesses to the incident.
Anyone with information or who can identify the tractor-trailer driver is asked to call 610-861-2026.
Traffic was backed up for about an hour following the accident. All lanes reopened by about 1:45 p.m. Friday.
Branosky stressed the importance of clearing snow and ice off vehicles within 24 hours after a weather event concludes. Snow and ice are hazardous, especially on highways, when motorists are traveling at a high rate of speed, he said.
In Pennsylvania, failing to remove snow or ice from a vehicle’s roof, hood, and trunk within 24 hours of a storm can result in a $50 fine, under “Christine’s Law,” which was passed in July 2022.
The law was named in honor of Christine Lambert, who died when a 10-inch chunk of ice dislodged from a trash truck and struck the vehicle she was driving on Christmas Day 2005 outside of Jim Thorpe.
When snow or ice falls from a moving vehicle and strikes another vehicle or pedestrian, causing death or serious bodily injury, drivers can be fined at least $200 and up to $1,500 for each offense, under the state law.