WARRENVILLE, Ill. -- A passenger car driver in the Chicago area is lucky to be alive after a large chunk of snow and ice dislodged from the top of a moving tractor-trailer and slammed through his windshield.

Peter Morano -- who suffered a torn iris, a shattered orbital bone, and broken nose that required a two-hour surgery to be reconstructed -- told local media that the sheet of ice was like a "white bomb" when it slammed onto his windshield.

Morano was able to push the shattered windshield and block of ice off of his face and chest and stumbled out of car when other drivers called for help.

"There was blood everywhere, pouring from my head, nose and my eye," he said.

Morano was released from hospital after two days, but he remains in severe pain. Doctors said there's a chance his vision could be permanently damaged.

He said it was irresponsible to drive a truck with ice on top and would like to see laws in Illinois that make clearing ice from vehicles mandatory.

Last fall, New Jersey became the first and only state to require drivers of all vehicles to remove snow and ice from rooftops or trailer tops before traveling on the road.

As this exclusive Today's Trucking feature on the issue shows, many in the trucking industry quietly agree accumulated snow or ice is a potential safety and liability risk, but the lack of available and affordable snow-removal devices make the safe clearing of snow or ice from trailer tops nearly impossible on an industry-wide basis.