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Huge metal bar crashes through woman's windshield

LAYTON, Utah — A woman in Utah had a brush with death this week when a huge metal beam came crashing through her windshield as she drove down the road.

Nicci Sanders was on her usual route on Monday, driving down the far left lane on I-15. Suddenly, she saw a five-foot-long metal beam was flying toward her as she sat in the driver's seat, followed by "an explosion of glass. I just can't believe that I'm alive."

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"I was both hands on the wheel and was completely aware of my surroundings," Sanders told KSL. She swerved as far as she could to the left without falling into the median as the beam crashed through her front windshield. It barely missed her. "If I had been doing anything different I'd be dead," said Sanders.

Life has a way a throwing things at us, often when we least expect it. "I just think we get so lazy with things and on autopilot and in a hurry and we just don't pay attention to that," said Sanders.

In Sanders' case, paying attention during one of life's critical moments may have been the difference between life and death. "I would have died. I mean it was a miracle," said Sanders.

Utah Highway Patrol Corporal Chris Jones responded to the scene and says the metal piece fell off of a boom truck. The truck driver kept going, apparently unaware of the damage left behind. The UHP eventually located the truck company and issued the driver a citation.

"We don't get a lot of calls for items this heavy or this large that can cause this much damage," said Jones. "Her actions are probably what helped save her."

Jones said debris-related crashes are not uncommon. Just last year the UHP said there were nearly 700 similar crashes reported.