A woman narrowly missed impalement by a metal pipe fence pole Thursday morning after her mini van ran off the roadway.

PIPE LINE - A Paradise woman amazingly escaped death or even serious injury after she crashed into a tractor. She then rammed into a fence and pipe punctured the windshield, missing her by about an inch. Messenger photo by Joe Duty

Kari Williams, 47, of Paradise was eastbound on County Road 3451 a few miles southwest of Paradise when she failed to make a sharp left turn in the road. She rammed into a tractor turning around in the gravel drive of an intersecting private road. Her vehicle then ricocheted into a fence, driving the pipe through the windshield and about 4 feet out of the driver’s side window, pinning her behind the steering wheel.

Herschell Stinnett had a front row seat to the wreck. He was mowing near the roadway in his tractor when Williams crashed into the front loader. He saw the pipe burst through her front windshield.

“I was afraid to go over and look,” he said.

The pipe missed Williams by centimeters. The pipe cut across the front of the steering wheel before jutting out the side window. She only suffered minor injuries and was transported by ambulance to North Texas Community Hospital in Bridgeport.

“For some reason, she was not paying attention and drove straight into the tractor and the fence,” said John Hallenbeck with the Department of Public Safety. “She was just banged up. She was scared more than anything.

“Luck and the steering wheel saved her life.”

“And the good Lord,” Stinnett added.

There were no skidmarks on the road, indicating that she didn’t even attempt to brake before crashing into the tractor.

“This is a sharp curve,” Stinnett said. “If you’re going too fast, you’re not going to make it.”

He said he’s seen several accidents at the bend.