Latest news with #PaulHennel
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
New law would help truckers remove deadly rooftop snow and ice
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — A proposed law could close one of the remaining gaps in existing laws that — although some of the only of their kind in America — haven't stopped sheets of ice from falling from truck rooftops. Brandon Hennel, 24, of York County, nearly died in early January when a sheet of ice slipped off a tractor-trailer's roof, crossed into oncoming lanes and went through his windshield. He was on a ventilator for four days, underwent an eight-hour facial reconstruction surgery and — just this week — had wires removed from his jaw. PREVIOUS COVERAGE > Pennsylvania law requires drivers to remove snow, ice from cars His father, Paul Hennel, called an existing Pennsylvania law — sponsored by Lisa Boscola (D-Lehigh Valley) and known as Christine's Law, in memory of a woman from Boscola's district when a sheet of ice went through the windshield of a car her husband was driving — a 'good first step,' and one of dozen of its kind in America, while also observing the obvious: that it wasn't enough to prevent what has continued to happen to people like his son. Initially, the law fined drivers only if ice from their vehicles killed or maimed someone. Then the fines increased, and police got the ability to pull over vehicles with snow or ice on their rooftops that appeared to be a threat; the fine is $50. The law applies to car and SUV drivers alike, but the reality, everyone acknowledges, is that the task is more difficult for drivers of tall trucks. Boscola said she wanted to do more, 'but the commercial trucking industry was very opposed to my legislation,' even though she noted some companies — she named Coca-Cola and Walgreens — were proactive about installing their own equipment at their facilities to remove tractor-trailer rooftop snow and ice after Christine Lambert died. Ultimately, though, she came to a perhaps less aspirational but more pragmatic conclusion. 'The trucking industry alone isn't going to be able to do it. They just won't. And they haven't up to this point,' Boscola said. 'So what do we do? You know, we have to help them.' As it turns out, she began working in late 2024 on legislation that would provide something remarkably similar to what Paul Hennel called for earlier this week: funding to make rooftop snow- and ice-removal equipment available at Pennsylvania truck stops and weigh stations for even truck drivers whose companies might have their own equipment, but who are far from it when the problem arises. 'However, I'm challenging the trucking industry as well,' Boscola said. With the equipment more widely available, she would want to do more to insist truckers use it, for example by increasing the fines for not doing so from the current $50 level. Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill (R-York County), whose district includes the Hennels' home, credited Boscola with the existing law, which passed unanimously in both chambers. Asked whether she would support further changes, she said 'every time we enact a law, there may need to be tweaks to that law' and she 'would imagine that every member wants to make sure that the law is effective.' Boscola said she appreciated Phillips-Hill's kind words and would contact her about possibly working together on the new legislation. She recognizes bipartisan legislation requires compromise — 'Maybe when she looks at the legislation, she would want to tweak it a little bit,' Boscola said of Phillips-Hill — but she also knows it has a better chance of becoming law. 'So then nobody gets the credit,' Boscola said. 'It's just both of us. Kind of nice, right?' Nice indeed, said Paul Hennel. 'I'm very excited to hear this and will continue my mission to make the roads safer so what happened to Brandon doesn't happen to anyone else,' Hennel said. 'And I think the commercial trucking industry would be really happy too,' Boscola said. 'you know. 'I really do, because I think they want to help. And I don't think they want to cause this kind of carnage on the roads, but they're kind of like, 'What do we do about it? It's out of our control once the truck leaves our facility.'' The industry's lobby — the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association, or PMTA — didn't respond Friday to messages from abc27 News. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Miami Herald
21-02-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Ice ‘missile' flies off car's roof, shattering quick-thinking driver's windshield
A Pennsylvania electrician narrowly avoided disaster on the highway when a chunk of ice rocketed off of a tractor-trailer and smashed through his windshield. Josh Keating was in his work van, driving on the interstate toward Allentown, when glass and ice suddenly exploded all around him, WFMZ reported. 'It could have knocked me out. It could have killed me,' Keating told the TV station. Keating was able to pull over, but he was in shock. EMS personnel who treated him afterward said his blood pressure was 168 over 90, according to WFMZ. 'I had an angel with me,' Keating told WNEP. 'The only thing I got was cuts and bruises basically on my hands because when it came through, I put my hand up to kind of catch the glass.' Under Pennsylvania law, drivers are required to clear ice and snow off their vehicles within 24 hours or face a $50 fine. If they don't and snow or ice injures or kills someone by flying off a moving car, the driver can face a fine of up to $1,500. 'It's a major safety concern when you aren't clearing your car, especially when you have some of the ice on top of snow,' Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesperson Sean Brown told WFMZ. 'They really become like missiles off your car.' Keating said he's become outspoken about the road hazard. 'Something that I'm gonna be doing from now on is educating and just talking about this to as many people as possible,' Keating told WNEP. 'Hopefully they get this to stop because this happens more often than not.' In a WNEP interview, Keating's mother Gloria Nace said he called her after the incident. 'I could tell as soon as I heard his voice that something was wrong,' she said. She said the dashcam footage of the incident made her feel as though her heart had stopped. In dashcam footage posted by ABC7 and widely shared across social media, the ice can be seen crashing through the driver's side of Keating's windshield, obstructing his vision. 'I could have lost him if he hadn't had his guardian angel with him and if he hadn't stayed composed and did exactly what he did, getting his van to the side of the road safely,' Nace told WNEP. Similar incidents have proven devastating for other drivers. In January, a 24-year-old Pennsylvania man went to the ICU after a sheet of ice from a truck smashed his windshield and crushed his face, according to WGAL. '(The impact) pushed him with such force, his seat completely back, with that much force,' his father Paul Hennel told the station. He is undergoing multiple facial reconstruction surgeries, according to a GoFundMe page. Paul Hennel told WGAL that he's urging people to protect themselves and others by clearing snow and ice from their cars. 'You would not want this to happen to your son or daughter, anyone that you love. It's something that could have been avoided.'
