Woman killed after runaway tire smashes through windshield

An Indiana woman was killed Monday morning when a wheel broke loose from a passing pickup truck and smashed through her windshield, police reported.

The woman was driving down the westbound lane of I-70 near Indianapolis at about 7:45 a.m., when the left rear wheel broke off a Nissan pickup truck traveling in the eastbound lane, Indiana State Police said.

After careening across the median, the wheel bounced up into the woman’s red SUV, causing the windshield to collapse in and the front end of the roof to tear away.

She then lost control of the car and went careening off the highway and crashing through a fence. The vehicle finally came to rest on its side in a yard about 25 feet from a house.

A 911 call was placed by a witness shortly after the accident, and paramedics arrived on the scene to find the woman unresponsive in her “severely damaged car,” police said.

Responders provided medical aid and attempted to save the woman, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the Nissan that lost its wheel was located by police.

Authorities declined to release the victim’s name.

The accident is still under investigation, police said.