Steering wheel stops steel beam that crashed through Michigan man's windshield on highway

INGHAM COUNTY, Mich. -- A Michigan man counts himself extremely lucky after a steel beam crashed through his truck's windshield while he was driving on the highway.

Johnnie Lowe, a father of three, said he was driving a 26-foot box truck on Interstate 96 in Ingham County when he saw the beam fall off the back of a flatbed truck.

"When it bounced off the concrete, I seen it was steel and then I knew this was going down," Lowe said. "And then I just braced myself."

Lowe said the beam smashed through his windshield, folding his dashboard. It stopped against the steering wheel. Lowe stayed calm and pulled his car over.

"I'm looking at my windshield with a big slice right in front of me, with a big six-foot piece of steel sticking out of it, about a half a foot away from me," Lowe said.

Lowe was on the job for a freight company at the time of the crash, and called his supervisor at DNC Logistics

"It was like being in an explosion of glass," Lowe said. "When I got home, I had to take a vacuum cleaner and suck out glass out of my ears."

DNC Logistics General Manager Jerry Babcock said he was shocked Lowe wasn't injured more, but was grateful he was okay.

"The trucks are a whole other issue that we could (sic) care less about," Babcock said. "We were just worried about Johnnie's safety."

Lowe said he felt incredibly lucky after the ordeal.

"I'm one lucky man," Lowe said. "I feel like I need to go play the lottery. Definitely."

The driver of the flatbed truck did not stop, but Lowe said he didn't believe the driver didn't notice the steel beam fall off.

Lowe is asking anyone who witnessed the crash to call police.