Ontario Provincial Police say three women are “lucky to be alive” after a piece of plywood flew off a vehicle and smashed through their windshield.

Jaspreet Sran, her friend, and her mother-in-law were driving on Highway 410 in Brampton around rush hour on Wednesday when a piece of wood broke free from an SUV ahead of them.

The plywood sliced through the car windshield, narrowly missing Sran and her two passengers.

“I was shocked, really shocked,” she told CTV News Toronto.

“I was shivering. The board was hitting me. When I saw (my friend), she was bleeding. They later told me that my head was also bleeding.”

OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said police were “expecting the worst” when they arrived on scene.

They were relieved to find the women in good health, aside from some minor cuts and scrapes.

“I’ve been to collisions and scenarios where objects have flown through windshields and struck and killed occupants inside the vehicle,” he said.

“When you see that piece of plywood stuck like a knife right through that windshield, it’s really terrifying. I can only imagine what the family must’ve been thinking when they heard about this as well.”

Schmidt said the accident speaks to a larger safety issue happening on a “somewhat regular basis” on OPP-patrolled roads.

Most commonly, OPP are called to investigate wheel separations on the highway that result in smashed windshields or collisions.

Officers investigate anywhere from 140-150 wheel separations on GTA roads annually.

“That’s in addition to loads that are coming off of vehicles,” he said.

“It’s something we’re always watching for. If we see an insecure load coming down the highway we will make sure that vehicle is stopped.”

For her part, Sran said she’s just grateful they walked away from the incident.

“Luckily no one hit my car from the back,” she said. “The main thing is I’m safe, my friend and my mother-in-law… we’re safe.”

Police are still looking for the driver of the SUV hauling the plywood.

Anyone who witnessed anything on the roadway at that time, or anyone with a dashboard camera who was travelling in the area, is being asked to contact OPP or Crime Stoppers.