Large saw blade pierces windshield on Oregon highway

TURNER, Oregon (WPVI) -- In Washington, troopers said a mattress falls off an SUV and gets stuck under a car, causing it to catch fire.

In Vermont, terrifying moments for a family as a steel bar flies into their car, missing their one-year-old baby by inches.

And in Texas, a teenage girl is nearly killed when a hook comes loose from an SUV and crashes through a windshield.

"All of a sudden there was this loud explosion almost and I felt something hit my hip," said Sierra Biddulph.

The American Automobile Association says more than 200,000 crashes involving debris happened over four years.

AAA says road debris resulted in around 39,000 injuries and more than 500 deaths between 2011 and 2014.

"It's very careless and I think it's very sad," said Michelle Thompson.

Around 6:30 p.m. Monday, Thompson and her husband were driving on I-5 north of Turner when Oregon State Police say a two-foot metal saw blade fell off a truck in front of them.

"That blade was unreal, it was humongous," said Thompson. "We felt something go underneath our truck. And when my husband turned around, he saw that item goes through the windshield of the person behind us.

It went through the windshield on the driver's side and apparently it must have hit either the steering wheel or the dash and made it veer off and it hit his wife's leg.

Thompson said the driver of the truck that was carrying the blade stopped.

She said she called 911 as her husband pulled over and he and an off-duty EMT treated the victims until paramedics showed up.