Connecticut takes on truckers, Mother Nature

Connecticut Gov. Rell

The Trucker News Services

2/21/2008

HARTFORD, Conn. — A proposed law under consideration by the Connecticut legislative Transportation Committee would subject truckers and other motorists who fail to clean snow and ice off their vehicles to fines of $200 to $1,000.

House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, said he and other lawmakers for years have received complaints from constituents about door-sized sheets of ice and snow flying from trucks and other vehicles smashing into other vehicles, shattering windshields and injuring drivers and passengers.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell on Wednesday said she supports such a law.

“I call it a slow-motion nightmare,” Cafero said. “You're driving down a local road, I-84, 95, 91, it's probably the first sunny day after a snowstorm and whether it is a van, a car, a truck in front of you and all of a sudden, you see that sheet of ice flying off the surface.”

Cafero said that since he first introduced the legislation seven years ago he has received many additional complaints and stories from motorists and passengers who said they had been injured by or because of chunks of flying snow and ice.

“I think it is time that we took this step,” Cafero said, noting that while Rell has proposed fining motorists in the event that snow and ice hits another car, he would like fines to be levied before an incident occurs.

“I actually say we have to stop it before it happens,” Cafero said.

He discounted criticism from the trucking industry that snow cannot be cleaned from huge trucks that drive cross-country in all kinds of weather.

“I think we, as a Legislature, have to weigh the public safety with the inconvenience and possible cost that it might be for commercial vehicles to outfit their cars and trucks and vehicles to prevent this from happening,” Cafero said.

Rep. Antonio Guerrera, D-Rocky Hill, co-chairman of the committee, agreed.

“Obviously many of us who travel the highways have had similar experiences,” he said. “Let's start the ball rolling and somehow prevent the trucks from driving with the snow on their vehicles.”

Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said his committee just raised a similar bill and asked Cafero how he would envision fines to be given to violators.

Cafero's bill has one set of fines for driving with snow on a vehicle and enhanced penalties if the material falls off and hits other vehicles. He said he'd defer to what the transportation and judiciary chairmen draft.

Rep. Peter J. Panaroni Jr., D-Branford, a committee member who is a truck driver, said it's time for the industry to take responsibility.

“Trucks are not the only vehicles with snow left on top of their roofs,” he said, suggesting that truck stops be outfitted with structures that can brush accumulated snow and ice off trailers. “Something needs to be done,” Panaroni said.

Rell said her bill is aimed at "dozens" of complaints each winter.

“Keeping our communities and roadways safe is a quality-of-life issue and government's responsibilities include providing the necessary resources, including staffing, technology and appropriate laws to achieve our safety goals," said Rell. "These ice missiles are hazards that can break windshields and cause accidents.”