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Caught on Camera: Vt. Driver Dodges Injury From Flying Ice

Dramatic dash cam video shows an ice missile smashing the windshield of a car traveling through Essex

A Vermont driver is grateful to have escaped without injury, after a dramatic close call that was caught on camera.

In video Todd Herrington shared with NBC 10 Boston, you can see his SUV getting pummeled by large chunks of ice flying off the top of a passing truck.

"It was scary, for sure," Herrington told NBC 10 Boston Wednesday.

Herrington remembers feeling like he was stuck in slow-motion with nowhere to go: watching a sheet of ice peeling off the roof of a large truck in the oncoming lane, then wincing as it hurtled toward his windshield.

"It kind of stunned me,” Herrington remembered.

The ice missile struck Monday in Essex, Vermont.

The husband and father of three’s SUV is already repaired, and the onboard camera that captured it all is back in place.

Photos from that day show the shattered glass and countless shards that filled the front seat on the passenger side. Herrington was uninjured, and said he is so grateful he was alone, because the ice struck the passenger side of the windshield.

"I don't even want to think about what it would've been like,” Herrington said about the idea of his wife or one of his kids being in the car with him Monday. "It would have been not good. The amount of glass that was in that passenger seat–it would've been a different outcome."

For several years, Rep. Kurt Wright, R-Burlington, has hoped to see colleagues in the Vermont Statehouse consider adopting new rules in the state that would mandate drivers clear off their vehicles or face fines, similar to a law on the books in Connecticut.

"I think we ought to do something about it," Wright said in February 2016 of what he called a public safety risk from ice flying from the roofs of vehicles.

However, Wright's bill has long failed to gain traction, because of concerns over enforcement; especially of long-distance haulers.

"We ought to work with the trucking industry to find a solution to this," Wright said in 2016. "There's going to be a tragedy that occurs. We're going to wish we had been stronger on it."

Reached by phone Wednesday in regards to the new case involving Herrington, Wright said he is not giving up on his legislation.

Wright said he plans to amend his bill to focus on concerns over large trucks, and expects to re-introduce the legislation.

As for Todd Herrington’s close call, he said his video helped him track down the local company that owns the truck involved. Herrington declined to identify the company, but said the owner has been great to deal with in helping him through the insurance process.

"Luckily, it only hit the windshield and there was no damage to any other part of the vehicle," Herrington said of the flying ice.

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