Des Moines,IA : Man walks away from ugly crash after car rips in half on October, Friday 13th 2017

A driver is lucky to be alive after his car flew nearly 100 feet in the air and ripped in half before one section landed in a massive hole, the other half lodged in the dirt.

The single-car crash happened early Friday near East 28th Street and Dean Avenue just outside the state fairgrounds, stunning neighbors and first responders.

“It certainly appears there was some distraction involved in the driver, and it resulted in what could have been a serious crash,” Des Moines police spokesman Paul Parizek said.

Authorities said the driver was heading east on Dean Avenue, which is closed due to construction, likely at a high speed before he catapulted into the hole. Officials said the man hit the bucket of an excavator, which sliced his car in half.

The vehicle came to a rest nose down in a large hole at East 28th Street, right in front of the Des Moines fire station.

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The driver crawled out and was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

“You see that type of damage to a vehicle and you expect to see some very serious injuries, if not a fatality,” Parizek said.

First responders said they are puzzled as to how the driver escaped the car with only minor injuries.

“It’s fairly inaccessible,” Des Moines fire Lt. Joe Van Haalen said. “You can’t get to where this vehicle was at without quite a bit of work.

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“How he got from inside the driver’s seat of that car to down in that hole with the back of the car is pretty amazing.”

First responders were able to talk to the man, whose name has not yet been released, after the accident.

“This guy was up and walking around after the fact, was able to communicate with us,” Van Haalen said. “That’s probably more amazing than the position of the car or anything else.”

Police said there are enhanced fines in construction zones, which are meant to deter drivers from reckless behavior.

“If the motivation to make it home safe isn’t enough to deter you from doing something silly, we hope some of the things we’ve built in there to punish you for making those mistakes get your attention,” Parizek said.

No charges have been filed as of late Friday afternoon.

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Man walks away from ugly crash after car rips in half