'I could have been decapitated': Flying debris shatters windshield on I-494 in Eden Prairie

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (FOX 9) - A Plymouth, Minnesota woman's commute to work quickly turned into something much scarier than her daily drive.

A piece of metal crashed through her windshield. Lynn Spooner says had it fallen a few inches closer, she may not have survived.

"I'm still in shock, I think,” said Spooner. “There was glass all over me. I don't even know if I slammed on my brakes when it happened. All I know is I'm all the way over and trying to assess what just happened."

Spooner says she was on her way to work on Interstate 494 in Eden Prairie around 7 a.m. Thursday morning when the SUV in front of her changed lanes as she passed Highway 62. 

That's when Spooner says a 3-foot long piece of metal smashed into her passenger side door frame and then flipped up and crashed into her windshield, missing her head by just inches.

"It just scares me that if this had gone all the way through, I could have been decapitated," said Spooner. 

She believes the metal strip fell from a truck or semi that was hauling unsecured cargo. The state troopers who responded to the accident, however, weren't able to find the vehicle that was responsible.

"I just want people who are hauling things in their trucks or semis make sure their loads are secure,” said Spooner. “If you hear something rattling or something, maybe you should pull over and check."

In the meantime, Spooner is grateful her close encounter with flying debris wasn't worse.

"It’s my husband's birthday and he says this is the best birthday present he could have gotten - me not being hurt," she said.

Spooner says replacing the windshield and repairing the damage to her dashboard will cost a couple thousand dollars, but it is covered by insurance.