Pole flies through SUV windshield and misses driver by inches in Arizona, photos show

An Arizona driver came within inches of being impaled by a flying metal pole, after it bounced off the back of a nearby pickup truck and sailed through her windshield.

Photos released by the Arizona Department of Public Safety show the pole ended up lodged in the Nissan’s back seat.

The incident happened just before noon Thursday on State Road 51 in Phoenix, the department said in a tweet.

“A driver who failed to properly secure their load nearly cost an innocent motorist her life,” officials wrote.

“Luckily, the victim wasn’t physically injured when this 4 (foot) piece of metal impaled her windshield and became lodged in her SUV.”

Investigators say the pole was being hauled by a pickup truck, and it became airborne after “the truck hit a bump in the roadway.”

“The driver of the truck did not stop and has not been located,” the department said.

Mandy Poff identified herself as the driver in a Facebook post and referred to the incident as “a nightmare.” She also asked for helping finding the driver of the pickup.

“My whole body felt like pins and needles.,” Poff told station KNXV. “It did feel very much like slow-mo. I can picture it coming by my face and that feeling and the sound of the glass. That’s hard to get out of your head. It just keeps replaying.”

Poff said she was merging onto the State Road 51 from Interstate 10 when she saw the pole fall off the truck, bounce off the pavement and head straight toward her, KSAZ reported.

“It was flying literally, like, in the air like a missile,” she told the station. “It went right by my face. It was terrifying.”

This story was originally published July 26, 2021 at 9:13 AM with the headline "Pole flies through SUV windshield and misses driver by inches in Arizona, photos show."