Unsecured axe flies off truck and into windshield of car

TOPSFIELD, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- An "ax-cident" on Route 95 in Topsfield left the passenger of one car shaken up but uninjured after an ax dislodged from a dump truck, striking the windshield of the car behind it.

A little before 11 this morning, a Peabody landscaper was driving a dump truck down Route 95 South in Topsfield. The driver told police that he forgot about the axe, so it wasn't properly secured.

State Police Trooper Joseph Risteen responded to the scene and said he'd never seen anything like it.

"When I got there, I saw something I hadn't seen before and I hope I don't see again," he said.

A Rhode Island couple was driving behind the dump truck in a Lexus SUV when the axe went flying out of the truck and became lodged blade-first into the car, inches away from the woman. Risteen said the axe hit the windshield at the woman's eye level.

It all happened so quickly, the couple didn't have much time to react, in fact they didn't even realize what had smashed their windshield at first. Some of the shattered glass fell on the woman, but she didn't sustain any other injuries.

State police are recognizing her husband for obeying the speed limit, saying it potentially saved his wife's life.

"If it had had any more inertia behind it or if they were traveling a little faster then one could speculate that that axe would've gone through," Risteen said.

Police aren't releasing the name of the landscaper, but he did stop. He received a citation and $200 fine, but his axe was returned to him.

Cox Media Group