A driver was left in a state of shock after a paint attack on his vehicle near Midleton in Co Cork.
Travelling along the N25 road just outside the town, the driver’s van was hit from above by a can containing blue paint – which was thrown from an overpass.
The paint splattered all over the driver’s side of the widescreen and completely obscured his view of the road.
Dangerous paint attack on truck driving thru #Midleton
— FTA Ireland (@newsfromftai) April 18, 2016
Can thrown from N25 #overpass
This can kill pic.twitter.com/dt9KjNRkVq
Luckily the driver managed to pull into the hard shoulder, but was said to be left in a state of shock over what happened.
The Freight Transport Association of Ireland (FTA Ireland) have released a strongly worded statement following the incident which occurred at around 10pm last Wednesday.
The driver and the company involved wish to remain anonymous, but contacted FTA Ireland in a bid to raise awareness of such events.
Speaking to breakingnews.ie General Manager of FTA Ireland, Neil McDonnell, said the incident could have had “catastrophic” consequences.
“There is naturally very little we can do about this but raise public awareness,” said McDonnell.
“Firstly, a paint can might not explode, it could penetrate the windscreen and incapacitate or kill the driver. Secondly, the vehicle was driving blind until it was brought to a stop. The driver in this case could have impacted with other vehicles, cyclists or pedestrians.
McDonnell confirmed that local gardaí are investigating the attack and was keen to stress the “extreme risks” involved in incidents like this.
“We hope that sharing a photo like this will alert both young people and their parents to the extreme risks posed by this type of behaviour,” said McDonnell.
“The message we want to get out is that this activity is incredibly dangerous.
“We were lucky no death or injury resulted last Wednesday, but we might not be so lucky the next time.”
