HOUSTON – The windshield of Peter Mathey’s car shattered when a giant piece of pipe flew through his window on the way to work Wednesday morning.
"I was going 65 to 70 miles per hour and a piece of pipe came from the left hand side. It was kind of like ... I just saw a blur coming at me. And I heard a ping. And it came through the windshield. Hit me in the shoulder and went into the back of the car," Mathey said.
It happened as he drove on the I-45 HOV lane from Spring to his office in downtown Houston.
"I was stunned when it first happened. I just slowed down. Trying to think, should I pull over, but I was in the HOV lane so there was really nowhere to pull over, so I slowed down to 30 miles per hour, put on my blinkers and drove slow in," he said.
He said he was afraid that broken glass would blow into his face.
He knows the outcome of this story would have been much different had the giant steel metal coupler hit his windshield just a few inches in his direction.
"Yeah, I wouldn't be standing here," he said.
Mathey’s car was in the shop Friday. He said he would put a film on the new window to try and make it stronger.
He was thankful that he survived the flying piece of steel so he could return home safely to his family.
"I just feel lucky to be alive. I feel like I escaped death," he said.
