This is why businesses should pay their fair share of taxes

A cracked windshield reveals why businesses should pay their fair share of taxes.

Here I am, driving along and minding my own business when all of a sudden I see a rock, seemingly in slow motion, fly off a trailer, bounce on the road in front of me and then it ricocheted off my windshield.

I'm 48 years old and have been driving for about 30 years. Until this fall, I had never had a rock or other debris crack my windshield. It happened twice this fall.

The first was just a small chip and I was able to repair it using a windshield repair kit I purchased for about $10. It was well worth the cost as it prevented the chip from cracking. My insurance deductible is over $100.

Then, on Saturday, I'm driving on Route 322 in Mayfield Heights. I turn onto the I-271 South ramp and I get behind an Empire Asphalt truck pulling an empty trailer. 

We get onto the highway and before I could pull around the truck to pass it happened. The trailer was filled with rocks and debris.

I was victimized by a careless employee of a business who doesn't care enough about others to clean off its equipment prior to getting on the roadway.

That rock created a chip in the glass. Due to the colder temperatures, the glass expanded and the chip turned into a crack that now extends nearly the full width of my windshield. It will have to be replaced at my expense.

Imagine what would happen to me if I decided to throw rocks out my window while driving down the highway. That's exactly what happened here. Empire Asphalt was throwing rocks on the highway.

The business won't be charged with a crime and certainly won't pay my insurance deductible.

Nor do the businesses get charged when their trucks run over the berms and crack the concrete, which then is repaired using tax payer dollars.

Small businesses and large businesses alike need to be regulated and taxed. As much as they provide to society, they also create a burden.

How many businesses would survive if tax payers didn't pay for roads so customers could drive to those businesses to purchase goods and services?

Why should company truck drivers be allowed to throw rocks at cars while driving on the roadways?

I wonder how many other windshields were cracked that day?