Driver Speaks Of Shock As Metal Object Smashes Windscreen On M50

James Fenton

A motorist has spoken of his shock after a metal object smashed through his windscreen while he was driving on the M50.

Jason Pickett told RTÉ’ Radio One’s Liveline programme that he was driving southbound on the M50 before the exit at Ballymun last Thursday when the terrifying incident occurred.

“I was heading southbound on the M50. It was a nice, clear day. I had my sun visor down in the car and I was wearing sunglasses because of the sun. The traffic was quite light and all of a sudden my wind screen shatters in front of me. I was bewildered because there didn’t seem to be any accidents. I didn’t know what had happened.

“I managed to pull my car off the motorway up onto the hard shoulder of the M50. I’m sitting there looking at the glass all around me and all around the car and a gaping hole in my windscreen. There didn’t seem to be any more cars involved. The traffic had continued to move on the motorway.”

Jason Piggot tells @talktojoe1850 that he was driving on the M50 when a solid piece of metal came through the windscreen of his car and narrowly missed the child seat in the back of his car #Liveline pic.twitter.com/LBSskh2Y0G

— Liveline (@rteliveline) January 8, 2018

Jason added that he suspects the object may have fallen off a truck.

“It shot in like a bullet. It’s a rare enough accident but it does happen.

“It’s possible that the driver didn’t know it happened. It was 3pm on Thursday afternoon between the M1 junction and the M50 junction.”

This is the damage that the flying missile did to Jasons car @talktojoe1850 #liveline pic.twitter.com/sZCq6NuslO

— Liveline (@rteliveline) January 8, 2018

Jason feels that other circumstances, the results may have been catastrophic and he was lucky this time that there were no children in the back seat.

“I saw the piece of metal about one meter long. It’s about three inches wide and an inch thick. It was like a sphere. It had gone into my back seat and lodged between the two back seats.

“It would have been life changing or life ending if it had hit me. The size and weight of it, I can’t imagine what the damage it would have done. It would have been catastrophic.

“I did ring the guards and they said because nobody stopped and there were no witnesses and because I wasn’t injured there was no reason for them to attend. They also said the cameras on the M50 don’t take a recording, they’re just live cameras.

“I’m looking for anybody who was there at that time to see if they can help me out. The driver should have noticed it if not at the time, then later on that day.”

(all pics: @Liveline_RTE on Twitter)