Today in terrifying close calls from GTA roads and highways, a Brampton woman is lucky to be alive after a loosely-secured saw blade fell from another vehicle and came flying straight towards her while she was driving.

What could have been an instant decapitation was, thankfully, avoided — but not without some collateral damage.

While the driver emerged from the incident with her life, her white Mercedes was all sorts of messed up after a saw sliced through its front bumper (and then some.)

"High end battlebot? No - this motorist very lucky when saw blade came off of passing vehicle and wedged itself into her car," tweeted OPP Central Region over the weekend with a photo of the damage.

"Ensure ALL items are secure before driving."

High end battlebot? No - this motorist very lucky when saw blade came off of passing vehicle and wedged itself into her car. Ensure ALL items are secure before driving. #avoidedtragedy #lucky #secureyourload #drivesafe @YourCaledon #CaledonOPP ^im pic.twitter.com/qqH4m2pK9E

— OPP Central Region (@OPP_CR) March 26, 2021

The driver, Arfa Ata, told CTV News this week that she had been driving along the Gore Road (Regional Highway 8) in Caledon on Thursday when the blade appeared out of nowhere.

"When I saw what it was, I was terrified," she told the news outlet, noting that she felt lucky the saw didn't kill her.

Later identified as the type of blade used to cut stone, the flying object could have caused a lot more damage than it did. "Because it is a saw blade, a blade you use for concrete and stuff. It could have hurt me really badly," said Ata.

Ata also said that a witness who pulled over to help told her that he'd seen sparks and fire coming from the car at the moment of impact. In the end, the saw blade cut through the car's bumper, radiator and pipes, leaking oil everywhere.

And police say this is far from a unique incident.

Driver lucky to be alive after a vehicle lost wheel and bounced into oncoming traffic https://t.co/i2AEFq1CYL

— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) March 30, 2021

Dangerous close calls of this kind have made headlines many times in the past, and are often the subject of warnings from police all over Ontario.

Whether it be a block of wood, a sheet of wood, planks of wood or even something not made from wood at all, flying objects pose a legitimate threat to GTA highway drivers.

The OPP's Highway Safety Division reported just before noon today, in fact, that another driver was "lucky to be alive" after their windshield was smashed by a bouncing tire that had fallen from another vehicle on the westbound 401.

"The driver of this vehicle had less than a second to see what was coming and had no opportunity to react," said OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt from the scene. "She is lucky to be alive to say the least."

"Had that wheel been just a few inches over, it would be a completely different story right now."