Woman spots huge spider in car while driving at 60mph—”Almost killed me”

A massive spider gave an Australian woman a fright when it appeared from behind the rear view mirror of her car while she was driving.

Monique Fogarty was traveling down a freeway through the Australian capital Canberra at around 60 miles per hour on Friday when the large spider crawled out from its hiding place.

Fogarty posted an image of the spider in the “Australian spider identification page” Facebook group asking whether it was a huntsman spider, while commenting that the animal had “almost killed” her.

Group members eventually identified the animal as a huntsman spider belonging to the genus (group of species) Isopedella.

These large, long-legged spiders are notorious for entering cars and being found behind sun visors or running across the dashboard, according to the Australian Museum.

Fogarty told Newsweek that she was initially shocked to see the spider but managed to control herself and avoid an accident on the freeway.

“I squealed as it gave me a fright when it came out of nowhere but after the initial fright I was calm and unbothered,” she said.

“I know huntsman spiders aren’t harmful and that it wouldn’t do anything until I could pull over safely.”

After pulling over, Fogarty picked up the spider with her hands and placed it outside the car.

“I got off the parkway and pulled over safely then opened my door, cupped it in my hands and popped it on the ground to head into the nearby bushland,” she told the Daily Mail Australia. “I’m sure it was just the momentary adrenaline. I definitely wouldn’t normally pick them up.”

The woman said she had seen the spider on her car on a handful of occasions over the past few months but had never managed to catch it.

“I had seen the huntsman on my car a few times over the past few months but it always managed to hide away again before I could shoo it off,” she said.

This is not the first time that Fogarty had spotted a spider in her car while driving. In fact, she said the same spider may have managed to penetrate the vehicle before.

“Once before, it was likely the same spider and my daughter saw it sitting next to the front passenger seat window. That time I just put the window down and shooed it out then put the window back up,” she said.

Spiders like these can enter cars through open windows, air vents or other small spaces.

Fogarty told Newsweek that she is generally “okay” with spiders but is no huge fan of the animals.

“Huntsman and daddy long-legs are very sweet spiders and no threat to humans so those, in particular, are totally fine in my book,” she said. “I wouldn’t ever get one as a pet though, I don’t like them that much!”