AUBURN, Wash. -- Lauren Gallo was driving her grandmother to the SuperMall in Auburn on state Route 167 when a piece of metal flew off a trailer in front of them narrowly missing their vehicle.

Gallo, 19, was behind the wheel of her Ford Mustang with her 82-year-old grandmother in the passenger seat Thursday evening.

“It was the most frightening thing to have something come flying at you and not know what’s going to happen,” Gallo said.

“I was driving and I saw this huge metal sheet thing come off and it bounced once on the freeway and it was coming at me,” Gallo said.

According to the Washington State Patrol, what came flying at Gallo was a lid to an electrical box.

The driver had the piece in his trailer and was on his way to a metal recycler when the incident happened, WSP troopers said.

“It was flying at us. I hunkered down and she was trying to control the car and get us so we wouldn’t get hit,” Vera Harp said about her granddaughter’s driving.

“I just pulled a hard left and we did three 360 spins and went into the ditch on the left side of the freeway to dodge it,” Gallo said.

According to troopers, Gallo was in the right lane and crossed the left lane and ended up in the median.

WSP troopers said if Gall hadn’t reacted she could have been killed.

“It takes 5 minutes to check your loads, if people would take the time to check their loads it will save people’s lives,” Gallo said.

WSP caught up with the driver and issued him a $216 ticket.

KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Alison Grande spoke with the drive who said he has secured his load but that he had been cut off and the load shifted.