WINDHAM, N.H. (WHDH) - A driver in New Hampshire was left shaken after a piece of debris came smashing through his windshield on I-93 North in Windham.
“I could be dead,” Taylor Manning told 7NEWS.
Manning said he was on his way home from work last week, driving in his Chevrolet Trailblazer on Wednesday afternoon when all of a sudden, the Manchester resident was nearly maimed.
“There was a trash truck in front of me with a dumpster on its back,” Manning said. “All of a sudden, I see this street sign fly out from the dumpster and come flying towards me so quick.”
The debris from the truck struck the windshield of Manning’s car, landing right above his head.
“It was a decent size – it wasn’t a highway sign,” he explained. “Just big enough to really cause damage and possibly kill me.”
The impact shattered his windshield, damaging some of the vehicle’s roof in the process.
“I think it bounced off, but I think it would’ve gone all the way in if it hadn’t hit the roof – and it split the roof,” he said.
Also shaken by the close call was Manning’s wife, who emphasized just how close the piece of debris came to her spouse’s scalp and just how lucky he was to be alive.
“It was just inches away from going completely through the windshield,” Amanda Manning said. “It could’ve decapitated him.”
In terms of the aftermath, Manning’s vehicle may be a total loss. But for now, he says he hopes that drivers are more careful with their cargo.
“The truck obviously did not have its screen down over its load and that’s a DOT law,” Taylor Manning said. “If he had had that down, nothing would have flown out. These trucks need to be held accountable to the laws that are set in place for these reasons.”
New Hampshire State Police are investigating the matter. Manning said he has tried reaching out to the truck’s company multiple times to get some closure as well, but has not heard back.
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