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Flying Pliers Narrowly Miss CBS2's Jennifer McLogan, Family On LIE

ISLANDIA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- It was a harrowing incident on the Long Island Expressway this week, when a foot-long metal hand tool came flying into a windshield directly toward a driver.

Inside the car was CBS2's own Long Island reporter Jennifer McLogan.

As CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported, the incident raised new questions about who is supposed to be cleaning area roads.

Dan Gurskis was headed east on the LIE near Exit 58 Thursday night, when he stopped dangerously short in one terrifying moment.

"We could see it coming at us, and we heard an explosion," Gurskis said.

Gurskis was on the tail end of a family road trip at the time.

"We could see that the windshield was shattered and there was a foreign object lodged in it," he said.

With no idea what hit him, Gurskis reached his arm out and could feel, embedded in the windshield, a nearly foot-long pair of pliers. They had been kicked up from the road by a speeding truck in the high-occupancy vehicle lane.

Also in the car was Gurskis' wife, CBS2's McLogan.

"I was in the back seat when I heard this explosion," McLogan said. "It took my breath away, and when the car started to swerve, it was an unavoidable missile coming at you."

The spraying glass narrowly missed Gurskis and their daughter, Elle, in the front seat.

"If the wrench had fallen, let's say, an inch lower, it could have hit my dad in the head and knocked him unconscious. Who knows if we would have been alive today?" said Elle Gurskis.

Was it the fluke accident or the sign of a bigger problem? Litter and debris on the area's busiest roads is a frequent complaint among motorists.

One area auto repair shop often mends the damage caused by debris.

"I get flats all the time that come in, there's always – I have drill bits in cars; keys," said auto repair shop owner Lou Dispenza.

Just how often is LIE cleaned or swept? CBS2 asked the New York State Department of Transportation, which said each weekday, crews patrol the LIE and pick up roadway debris. Each week, private sponsor-a-highway crews perform litter pick-ups.

"This will be the fourth windshield that I've had to replace because of flying debris," Dan Gurskis said.

"There was so much debris in the breakdown lane; I even saw a tire iron there," CBS2's McLogan reported.

CBS2's McLogan and her family were relieved that no one was hurt, but will now be on guard for flying hardware -- yet another distraction on the road.

Road cleanup crews have their hands full. The DOT said they are tasked with filling potholes, cleaning drainage, mowing, and repairing guardrails.

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