San Jose driver narrowly avoids death when beam hits BMW

A San Jose driver narrowly escaped a potentially fatal injury on Interstate 280 Friday afternoon, impressing even San Jose firefighters, who tweeted out a photo of a long metal tray sticking out from the front of the man’s car. less A San Jose driver narrowly escaped a potentially fatal injury on Interstate 280 Friday afternoon, impressing even San Jose firefighters, who tweeted out a photo of a long metal tray sticking out from the front ... more Photo: San Jose Fire Department Photo: San Jose Fire Department Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close San Jose driver narrowly avoids death when beam hits BMW 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A San Jose driver narrowly escaped a potentially fatal injury on Interstate 280 Friday afternoon, impressing even San Jose firefighters, who tweeted out a photo of a long metal tray sticking out from the front of the man’s car.

Shortly after 2 p.m., the driver of a black BMW was going southbound on I-280 when the metal beam fell off of the back of a nearby truck and went through the windshield, said Cpt. Christopher Salcido, a San Jose Fire spokesman.

The driver pulled over to the right of the road, and escaped with only a slight scratch.

“Had the person been a little more to the right, it would have impaled him,” Salcido said. “It looks like he not so much dodged a bullet, but dodged a large beam of metal.”

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JennaJourno