TACOMA, Wash. -- Troopers say a truck driver suffered only scrapes and cuts when a trailer hitch smashed through his windshield Tuesday morning on Interstate 5.
Washington State Patrol Trooper Guy Gill said 37-year-old Puyallup driver Paul Shatzley was southbound near "L" Street when the hitch came crashing into his dump truck.
"This could have killed me if I wasn't paying attention," Shatzley said. "It probably weighs 35 pounds."
Shatzley has driven trucks for 20 years but it was his first day on a new job when his routine ride turned terrifying.
"I knew it was going to be a factor when I seen it coming to the truck," he said. "Didn't know if it would hit the roof or the windshield."
He spotted a trailer hitch ball fall from one truck and roll under another on I-5.
"And then went up about 40 feet above my truck windshield and through the windshield of my truck and hit me on the side of the head," he said. "I had seconds to move to the right before I got hit."
The hitch receiver nicked the top of Shatzley's head.
"It caught the side of my head and the side of my face when it went through," he said.
It left him sore, bruised, and with four stitches. But incredibly he's alive to show his wounds.
"The doctor even said if it hit me in the face it would have killed me," Shatzley said.
Shatzley says his close call should serve as a reminder -- if you're leaving a trailer hitch in, put the pin through it. If you're hauling a load don't take any chances.
"People need to tie their stuff down," he said.
Washington State Patrol Trooper Guy Gill said 37-year-old Puyallup driver Paul Shatzley was southbound near "L" Street when the hitch came crashing into his dump truck.
"This could have killed me if I wasn't paying attention," Shatzley said. "It probably weighs 35 pounds."
Shatzley has driven trucks for 20 years but it was his first day on a new job when his routine ride turned terrifying.
"I knew it was going to be a factor when I seen it coming to the truck," he said. "Didn't know if it would hit the roof or the windshield."
He spotted a trailer hitch ball fall from one truck and roll under another on I-5.
"And then went up about 40 feet above my truck windshield and through the windshield of my truck and hit me on the side of the head," he said. "I had seconds to move to the right before I got hit."
The hitch receiver nicked the top of Shatzley's head.
"It caught the side of my head and the side of my face when it went through," he said.
It left him sore, bruised, and with four stitches. But incredibly he's alive to show his wounds.
"The doctor even said if it hit me in the face it would have killed me," Shatzley said.
Shatzley says his close call should serve as a reminder -- if you're leaving a trailer hitch in, put the pin through it. If you're hauling a load don't take any chances.
"People need to tie their stuff down," he said.
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