MIDVALE, Utah — A Midvale woman is recovering after a chunk of concrete crashed through her windshield, hitting her in the face while driving on the freeway.
“I mean, it literally just fell out of the sky,” said Sharon Cockayne.
Cockayne was heading south on I-215 near 4500 South when she said a large rock burst through and struck her head.
“You know, the rock was probably bigger than a softball,” she described.
She said she was safely able to pull over and call 911.
“I don’t know if it got dropped off an overpass [or] if it fell off an overpass,” she said. “It could have come off a dump truck, but there’s no other damage to my car. It just hit the very top.”
She said she has cuts across her face and in her ear canal, as well as a broken cheekbone.
“I’m just really glad that I’m alive and the rock hit the side,” said Cockayne.
Corporal Tara Wahlberg with the Utah Highway Patrol said in Salt Lake County, troopers see an average of two debris-related crashes a week.
“Sometimes it’s wood. Rocks are common or chunks of concrete,” she listed. “Things that fall off trucks or lawn care trucks.”
If you see debris flying toward you, Wahlberg said every situation is different, but to try and avoid it safely without crashing.
“Try to brake, or if you can change lanes safely, do that,” Wahlberg said. “Really just try to avoid it as best as you can.”
For drivers hauling equipment, furniture or anything that can come loose, Cockayne is asking you to check that everything is secure.
“Tie your load down. Just take an extra second to make sure that your load is tied down,” she said.
