Flying ice shatters Ohio family’s windshield on highway

WARREN COUNTY, Ohio (WOIO) – An Ohio family is lucky to be alive after a chunk of snow and ice shattered their windshield while they were driving. The family is pleading with drivers to clear their cars of any ice and snow before they get on the road.

A camera captured the moment a sheet of snowy ice flies off a car over the weekend and then another one, four seconds later.

“You see how big the chunks are that come off,” said Bella Kleinow. “It’s scary.”

It is something drivers Joey and Bella Kleinow came face to face with themselves. They were in another dangerous run-in with drifting ice just hours later.

“I tried to veer towards the center lane and then move to the fast lane, and it broke a piece,” said Joey. “And then as it did, it looked like a feather, but then it came in like an anvil.”

On Saturday evening, they were on I-71 south, heading to their son’s basketball game near Cincinnati when a large slab of ice came tumbling off the roof of another car.

“Luckily, it didn’t come through,” explained Joey. “I think if it would’ve went through, it could’ve potentially killed my wife.”

The impact broke their windshield and sent pieces of glass and ice flying into the car.

“Kind of like a crash,” Bella recalled. “Like it was big loud bang, and then we see that it was shattered.”

Bella was sitting on the passenger side when most of the debris fell on her. It left her with a few scratches, but the emotional damage for her family was far worse.

“The kids, that’s what scared them the most seeing me with glass everywhere,” the mother said.

The Kleinows want to warn other drivers about this danger.

“Nobody wants the worse out of an accident if it does happen, but it could definitely harm somebody else’s family by not taking some extra steps or time to clear it off,” said Joey.

“A lot of other states have laws against it Ohio doesn’t, so it’s just something we need to be courteous about,” Bella said.

11 states currently have laws requiring drivers to clear snow and ice off their roofs before getting behind the wheel. Ohio isn’t one of them. However, there is a law on the books that prohibits unsafe cars from driving – which could apply to some cars driving with heavy snow and ice on them.

Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers say not cleaning ice or snow off your car presents unnecessary dangers.

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