Hidden highway hazards - Boston News, Weather, Sports | FOX 25 | MyFoxBoston

SPECIAL REPORT (MyFoxBoston.com) -- One minute she was driving to the grocery store and the next something came flying through her windshield. That local driver was just inches from a dangerous object that shattered the glass.

As FOX25's Catherine Parrotta found out, that item came right off the road and it's not the first time it's happened.

It was the last thing Cheryl expected. She was driving along 95 north late one night in March, traveling between exits 54 and 57 when this oddly shaped item came hurtling through her windshield.

"It bounced off the windshield wiper, then hit the dashboard, hit the steering wheel, then hit the door jam," she said.

Cheryl ducked, the object hitting her on the side of the head before falling to her passenger seat.

"I thought it came off a truck that was quite a ways ahead of me," she said.

But when state police arrived, as soon as the trooper saw this he knew exactly what it was, and said, that's not from a truck.

Not the first time this happened

According to the incident report, the trooper noted the debris was a piece of metal from the skip line. It turns out this is a road reflector that somehow became dislodged from the pavement.

Now you may be looking at a big heavy jagged piece thinking maybe it was a freak occurrence but believe it or not, this isn't the first time a situation like this has happened

With a weight of 4.5 pounds, that's a heavy thing to come flying through your windshield.

That was 4 years ago. Jim Larkin was driving on Route 3 in Billerica when a reflector came through his windshield. At the time, MassDOT told FOX25 they were phasing out that style of road reflector.

But just last year, another reflector went through a driver's windshield on Route 93.

Why it happened again

Frank DePaola of MassDOT said, "This was a technology that was used 10, 12 years ago the idea was to embed these devices into the pavement."

The reflectors are common across southern states. The problem here? Unfortunately, because of the northern climate there is cracking and water does get in around these devices and just like a pothole the freeze and thaw delaminates it and once they come loose on highways at highway speed they'll actually get flipped up by truck tires and then they become a dangerous projectile.

DePaola said he estimates hundreds of these have been dislodged. And while you may spot them near on and off ramps, DePaola says crews are working to remove them from major roadways, replacing them with plastic reflectors instead.

Back along 95, we noticed holes in lane lines in the area where Cheryl had been driving. Not a relfector in sight. Certainly a welcome sign for her.