Rhys Chouinard was just minding his own business and driving to work when a flying tire smashed into his windshield Friday morning.
It happened on Whitemud Drive near 149 Street around 7:15 a.m, as Chouinard was headed to his job with the City of St. Albert.
Chouinard was driving west when the tire flew over the median from the eastbound lanes. The debris smashed into the passenger side of the windshield, shattering the glass and causing one side to cave in.
“I was in a bit of shock,” he said of the ordeal. “I kind of blanked because when something smashes through your car window but your car doesn’t stop, it’s very hard to figure out what just happened. You’re still moving along, the vehicle was still driving fine but obviously I’m missing half of my windshield.
“And I’m trying to figure out – was that a tire?”
Chouinard continued driving until it was safe to pull over and called police. After speaking to an officer, Chouinard drove to a west-end police station to report the incident, where officers were shocked he drove the car there. The car was then towed from the police station.
“I’m pretty lucky when you look at it. It could have been a few feet over to the other side,” he said. “I’m okay. If there was a passenger there, the passenger wouldn’t have been okay.”
Chouinard doesn’t know where the tire came from – it happened too fast. This is the first time he’s made an insurance claim, so he’s not sure how the process will go and what it will cost.
“I really loved this car and I’m sad to see it go in this way but I couldn’t have done anything different. I couldn’t have taken evasive action because it was a blur and then my car was destroyed.”
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Given the damage caused to his windshield, Chouinard is just happy to be alive. He doesn’t know what would have happened if the tire had hit the driver’s side.
“Good time to buy a lotto ticket, maybe?”
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