Two people came within inches of dying yesterday—like, literal inches—on a GTA highway when a large piece of plywood smashed through the windshield of their car.

Police say that a man and woman were travelling southbound at Queen Street East on Highway 410 in Brampton around 4 p.m. on Wednesday when the wood flew into their windshield.

The "unsecured" sheet of plywood had fallen from another vehicle, according to OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt, sending both people inside the car to hospital with minor injuries.

But it could have been so much worse.

Two people are lucky to be alive after a piece of plywood flew into their windshield on a #GTA highway yesterday - Video by https://t.co/VV0MJjneDH pic.twitter.com/YiYGd3aFhC

— blogTO (@blogTO) January 3, 2019

Photos and video footage from the scene show just how close the plywood came to killing or dismembering either of the passengers.

Tow truck driver Rawad Sawah shared some clips from both inside and outside the car on Instagram Stories last night before extracting the wood to demonstrate how lucky they were.

2 people lucky to be alive after a piece of plywood flew into their windshield on #Hwy410

Wood came from another vehicle that was unsecured, #OPP investigating.

A man and woman taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Please ensure your loads are strapped and properly secured pic.twitter.com/oNniMwXX9K

— Sgt Kerry Schmidt (@OPP_HSD) January 2, 2019

From inside the vehicle, a sharp corner of the plywood can be seen jutting directly between both front seats, above the car's centre console. The wood appears to have pierced not only the windshield but part of the car's roof as well.

Sgt. Schmidt, who says both passengers are "lucky to be alive," is reminding all drivers to please ensure their loads are strapped and properly secured in light of the incident.

Even one piece of loose debris could spell tragedy, as evidenced by the close call. Fortunately for all parties involved, that wasn't the case this time.