‘Like a giant ninja star.’ Driver narrowly escapes as metal pierces windshield in Utah

Driving to work on a Salt Lake City highway, Annette Beaves saw “this giant metal bar coming right at me.”

“It was going so fast,” Beaves told KSTU. “I only had like a second to react. It did a couple of flips, honestly was like a giant ninja star. It was terrifying.”

The piece of metal impaled the windshield of her vehicle Wednesday, July 13, the Utah Highway Patrol reported in a news release.

Photos posted by police show the scrap metal, which looks something like a giant fan blade, piercing the windshield just to the driver’s side of the rear-view mirror.

“I was covered in glass,” Beaves said, telling KSTU she immediately pulled to the side of the highway. “My entire car was covered in glass. If I wasn’t wearing glasses, it would have gone in my eyes.”

Beaves suffered minor cuts from the flying glass, Utah Highway Patrol officers said. The flying piece of metal likely came from a load of scrap someone was hauling, according to police.

“No one thinks that not covering their load could result in an injury to another driver but it can,” the release said. “Cover your load!”

“It’s frustrating not having anybody to answer for that, especially that it almost cost me my life on an average day going to work,” Beaves told KUTV.

Utah Highway Patrol troopers handle an average of 71 calls per day about road debris, the agency said.

This story was originally published July 14, 2022 at 1:51 PM with the headline "‘Like a giant ninja star.’ Driver narrowly escapes as metal pierces windshield in Utah."