The Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association is lobbying against a proposed law that would let police ticket drivers whose vehicles shed snow and ice, regardless of whether anyone's injured.

Under current Pennsylvania law, fines are only given if snow or ice flying off of a vehicle actually injures or kills someone.

Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association Safety Director Don Siekerman told "Land Line Now" on XM Satellite Radio that there's no widely available technology for cleaning snow and ice off trailers - and that a ladder and broom just doesn't cut it.

"The trailers today, you can not step on top of the roofs - the guys go up to clean off snow and ice, and they're going to go through the roof of the trailer in many circumstances," Siekerman said. "That's just not a viable solution. We will probably see far more injuries and/or deaths from that type of issue than we ever will from ice and snow falling off a vehicle."

The new bill - sponsored by state Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Bethlehem - was proposed after one of Boscola's constituents was killed when ice from a tractor-trailer slid off and went through the windshield of a car.

- By Reed Black, staff writer
reed_black@landlinemag.com