An Ottawa man is hoping police can find three teens he says dropped a chunk of snow and ice on his windshield as he drove along Highway 417 this weekend.

Jeremy Beaumier was driving along the 417 on Saturday afternoon when he saw the teens standing on the Pinecrest/Greenbank overpass and dropping snow onto cars.

He said when he slowed down to warn them, they dropped a chunk of ice on his Jeep.

"Guess they thought I was a good target so they threw a piece of ice down on the car and basically broke the windshield, (causing) panic on the highway," said Beaumier.

Beaumier took the next exit and stopped his vehicle to assess the damage while his girlfriend, who was with him in the vehicle, called police.

Damage could have been worse

Neither was hurt, but Beaumier said he's concerned the next person it happens to won't be so lucky.

Beaumier said he believes the teens should be held accountable for their actions. (CBC)

"I'm sure they weren't looking to cause damage but at the same time they did, and even if they didn't cause damage they really could have caused some issues on the highway if they had surprised somebody," said Beaumier.

"It's extremely dangerous, (with) people on the road travelling at 100 km/h it can come through a windshield and hit and kill someone driving," said Const. Rheal Leval of Ontario Provincial Police.

"(There's) no reasoning behind that."

Levac said they investigate around five such incidents per year, but many others aren't reported.

Two teenagers were convicted of mischief endangering life in 2008 after a rock thrown from a Maitland Avenue overpass came through a vehicle's side window and injured three children.

Focus on education rather than pay for protection, councillor says

Fences could be installed by the Minsitry of Transportation to prevent something like this from happening, but both police and the city said that would likely be too expensive.

Coun. Marianne Wilkinson said it could cost millions of dollars to install fencing at all Ontario overpasses.

"For one or two incidents, you're better off to try and use that money to inform people about the dangers of doing things like this," she said.

"If kids realize how dangerous it is, they wouldn't do it."

Beaumier said he hopes police can find the people who were responsible and hold them accountable.

"I would love to get a $500 cheque in the mail of course, but I don't really expect that," he said.

"I do expect that the kids have to do something to make up for what they've done."