A motorist on the Don Valley Parkway had the fright of her life Tuesday morning when a wheel came flying off a minivan and slammed into the windshield of her car.

Fortunately the impact was on the passenger side and the wheel didn't actually break through the glass.

Lucky driver Bridget Berneche-Roche was shaken up but unhurt following the incident, which occurred just before 7am in the southbound lanes of the DVP approaching Lawrence Ave.

"I thought the accident was going to be worse than it was because the tire flew off, he was on the rims, and I saw sparks flying," she said. "I thought, 'This can't be good,' so I tried to get out of his way to not be part of any other accident that could happen."

She was the only person in the vehicle at the time.

"I was in the direct path, so there's absolutely nothing I could do to avoid getting hit by the tire," she observes.  

The minivan's owner is facing charges of operating an unsafe vehicle.

For her part, Bridget remains slightly shaken but remarkably calm about her close encounter with the Grim Reaper. And she doesn't know how she's going to tell her aunt about the smashed-in windshield. She let Bridget borrow the vehicle.

"I don't know if she's going to do that again considering she's coming back this weekend and she won't have a car ready to drive," she shrugs.

If nothing else, the incident might convince her to follow her own instincts.

"This was the morning I thought I should have taken the GO train to work," she admits.

Traffic services officers say drivers should always be aware of the possibility they could be hit.

"These events do occur on occasion," said Sgt. Brian Bowman "They can be very dangerous. Fortunately this morning this woman was not injured."

Last Thursday a flying piece of metal off a truck tore through the windshield of a Barrie family's car on Highway 400. It lodged in the carseat of a five-day-old infant, who wasn't hurt.