Lug nut flies through windshield in accident

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By Ryan Fitzmaurice

When a pickup truck’s tire fell off on Highway 32 around 6 p.m. Monday, causing the truck to veer into a ditch, for most parties involved, it seemed rather harmless.

But for Kara Bischoff and her two eight-year-old passengers,  it was a harrowing encounter, as a lug nut from the tire flew off and smashed through her front windshield.

“I was listening to the girls talk about American Girl dolls when out of nowhere something hit my windshield,” Bischoff said. “The sound it made was deafening, and it sent glass shards and almost dust-like particles
of glass flying everywhere. Initially I wondered if we had been shot at.”

Then Bischoff said she saw it. The lug nut had broken through her windshield and had landed dead center on her dashboard.

“My knee jerk reaction was to duck and close my eyes, which ended being a blessing, because I wasn’t wearing sunglasses and I very well could have gotten glass in my eyes,” Bischoff said. “As quickly as I ducked, I sat back up and tried to wrap my mind around the situation.”

Thankfully, her daughter, Kinlee and friend Oakley Anderson were both in the backseat and unharmed, but they were both equally as shocked.

“They screamed upon impact, but then sat in silent shock and disbelief,” Bischoff said.

Bischoff said she herself had pieces of glass near the corners of her eyes, her eyelashes and her ears. The two girls also had bigger pieces of glass on them. All parties, though, to some amazement, were okay.

“I kept thinking how much worse it could have been if that lug nut had hit any of us or if I had lost control of the vehicle,” Bischoff said. “I struggled to keep my emotions under
control and quickly said a prayer of gratitude that we were protected in what could have been a very bad situation.”

As it ended up, the lug nut caused under $1,000 worth of damage and as no one was hurt, no efforts by the sheriff department were needed in the crash.

After a couple of hours, contact was made with the driver of the truck and insurance was exchanged.

“The family didn’t know anyone else had been affected,” Bischoff said. “They were very kind about it all.”

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