'Ice Missile' Cracks Windshield; Police Warn Drivers To Clear Snow Off Cars

SPENCER (CBS) – Snow and ice is once again flying off the roofs of moving vehicles on Massachusetts roadways after another minor storm hit the region.

Spencer police shared a photo of a cracked windshield damaged by an "ice missile" Thursday morning. It happened on Route 49 just after 9 a.m. The driver of the car was not injured, and the offending motorist that was traveling in the opposite direction has not been identified.

"It is imperative to clean your vehicle of snow and ice," police tweeted.

In a separate incident, Massachusetts State Police stopped a blue Subaru in Gardner, the back window completely covered by snow. The trooper gave the driver a warning and let him clean the snow off.

And needing to get to the gym was not an acceptable excuse for this driver on I-95 in Dedham.

"Please be courteous, think of others, avoid fines, and clean your vehicle off," police said.

Madeline Dakin was on the receiving end of flying snow on the Massachusetts Turnpike.

"This morning a truck was driving in front of me and hit my windshield. It's kind of dangerous," said Dakin.

The overnight snow may have been more of a nuisance than a storm, but it was coated with ice that made it a potential hazard. State Police tweeted a photo of another cracked windshield in the line of fire. "We saw sheets of ice flying off people's cars. We were trying to dodge them as we were driving behind them," said Rose Lane heading home to New Jersey.

While driving with snow and ice on the roof is technically not illegal in Massachusetts, drivers can still be fined if it's blocking the windshield, impeding their driving, or anyone else's. While some states do have laws requiring snow and ice removal, Massachusetts lawmakers have tried and failed.

Bills which would require snow removal from commercial vehicles were filed in 2017, 2015, and 2013 but they never made it out of committee. "I don't love laws for everything, but I think something has to encourage people to see the danger and clean it off their own cars," said Rose Lane.

WBZ-TV's Beth Germano contributed to this report.