Maryland Trucking Accident Lawyer Blog
Last updated September 17, 2026 · Reviewed by Vadim A. Mzhen
A new Maryland snow and ice law takes effect on October 1, 2026, and it names the cab of a truck and the top of a commercial trailer among the surfaces a driver has to clear before moving. Chapter 667 of the 2026 Laws of Maryland adds the requirement as Md. Code, Transp. § 21-1135, sets higher fines for commercial vehicles, and creates a separate offense when a violation contributes to a crash.
For someone hurt when a slab of ice comes off a trailer roof, the new section states plainly what a driver is expected to do about accumulated snow and ice before moving. The crash-related offense carries a fine of $500 to $1,500 for a commercial vehicle. The duty also carries an exception for the driver whose own safety, or whose compliance with workplace-safety rules, would be compromised by clearing the vehicle.
Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers represents Maryland drivers in trucking accident claims along I-95, I-70, and the Baltimore Beltway, and ice thrown from a moving truck creates a problem most collisions do not, since the truck that dropped it may never stop.
What the Snow and Ice Law Requires Drivers to Clear
An exposed vehicle surface is the statute’s term for the parts of a vehicle that have to be cleared, and the list includes the hood, the trunk, the windshield, each window, the roof, the cab of a commercial or noncommercial truck, and the top of a trailer or semitrailer being towed. The duty is to make reasonable efforts to remove accumulated snow and ice that poses a threat to persons or property before operating or towing the vehicle. An earlier version of the bill required removal outright, and the enacted text asks for reasonable efforts instead.
Fines for a commercial vehicle start at $75 and climb with each offense to $1,000 for a fifth or later violation. Each day a violation continues counts separately, though a driver cannot be found in violation more than once in any 24-hour period. Police can enforce the basic requirement only as a secondary action, meaning an officer has to stop the driver for something else first. That limit falls away for the crash-related offense, which applies when a violation contributes to an accident resulting in property damage, death, or serious bodily injury as defined in Transp. § 20-102.
The Workplace-Safety Exception and How a Carrier May Use It
The prohibition does not apply where compliance would cause the operator to violate a law or regulation on workplace safety, or would threaten the operator’s own health or safety. Clearing the top of a trailer means working well above the ground, so a carrier defending an ice-strike claim can be expected to point at this exception.
If ice from a truck hit your vehicle, the exception does not settle the question. The statute asks about reasonable efforts, and what a company made available to its drivers shapes what was reasonable for them. What equipment the carrier had for clearing trailers, what its yard actually did during the storm, and how long a loaded trailer sat outside before it rolled are all fair subjects in a claim.
Identifying the Truck After an Ice Strike
A truck that throws ice may not stop, and its driver may never know it happened. The details most likely to lead back to a carrier are the time and direction of travel, the nearest mile marker or exit, the markings and color of the trailer, and any dashcam footage from your own vehicle or the cars around you. A 911 call creates a timed record of the location, and nearby businesses often keep exterior video for a short period before it is overwritten.
Once the truck is identified, a claim for an ice strike proceeds much as any other Maryland car accident claim does, with medical records, repair estimates, and wage records carrying the damages side. Maryland’s contributory negligence rule applies here as it does in every fault-based claim, so an insurer may argue about following distance or speed, and the record built in the first days is what answers that.
We represent drivers and families hurt in truck crashes across Maryland, from the I-95 corridor through Baltimore to the interstates in the western counties. Our attorneys work to identify the carrier behind a truck that did not stop, preserve dashcam and roadway footage before it is overwritten, and examine what a company did to prepare its trailers before a storm. Winter cases tend to turn on records that exist for a few weeks and then do not. We handle these claims on contingency and pursue every source of coverage the facts support.
After Ice From a Truck Damages Your Car or Injures You
An ice-strike claim depends on identifying the truck and on what its carrier did before the storm, and both get harder to establish as the weeks pass. Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers represents injured drivers throughout Maryland. We offer a free consultation on any injury claim. Call (800) 654-1949 or send us a message and we will get back to you.