Motorist Killed by Car Engine Part

A pregnant woman driving on Interstate 80 was killed Monday when an engine part from another car flew through her windshield and fractured her skull.

The woman, whose name was not released, was in her 20s and in her final trimester of pregnancy. The metal housing for an engine alternator crashed through the windshield of the woman’s 1990 Nissan Stanza, struck her and then flew out the rear window, said CHP Sgt. Gene Strecker.

He said investigators found the cylinder, which weighs between five and 10 pounds, in brush near the shoulder of the road. Investigators are unsure how the engine part, which is needed to operate General Motors vehicles dating prior to 1967, ended up on the highway but Strecker said he suspects that it fell from another vehicle that was carrying it.