Woman Driving With Iced-Over Windshield Rolls Car After Crashing Into Mailbox
TOWN OF RAMAPO, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) – A woman crashed her car after failing to scrape ice from her windshield in Rockland County.
Police in Ramapo say yes, ice on the windshield can be a pain to scrape away in the bitter cold, but failure to do so can have dire consequences.
The accident happened Thursday morning.
The vehicle turned onto its side after striking a brick structure housing a mailbox.
Police say the 61-year-old driver failed to remove ice from her windshield before leaving her home. It obstructed her view and led to the crash.
"I believe the driver was in a rush. She tried de-thawing it from inside the vehicle and, I believe, grew impatient and left," Ramapo Police Det. Sgt. Michael Higgins told CBSN New York's Tony Aiello.
Higgins says it appeared that only a couple of inches at the bottom of the windshield were clear. The driver made it less than a mile from her home before crashing.
According to police, the law requires drivers to remove accumulations of snow and ice that significantly obstruct the view.
"Make smart decisions. If you can't see out your front windshield, you can't see pedestrians or other vehicles, and you endanger not only yourself but the public and other vehicles around you," Higgins said.
The 61-year-old driver had to be extricated from the overturned vehicle but was not seriously injured.
Police wrote her several tickets, and she'll also be paying for some serious damage to her vehicle and the mailbox.
