A 40-year-old man miraculously escaped serious injury Tuesday after his van crashed through a bridge guard rail on a highway in North Topeka, flew about 30 feet over Soldier Creek, smacked the guard rail of another bridge carrying traffic in the opposite direction, then plummeted nearly 40 feet and landed in 10 to 15 feet of water. The driver, who was alone in his vehicle, was able to get out of his sinking van on his own and swim to safety. He then climbed up a steep, rocky embankment to reach ground level. He was taken to Stormont-Vail Regional Health Center by American Medical Response ambulance with minor injuries, authorities said. The crash was reported at 7:08 a.m. on N.W. US-24 highway, just west of Calhoun Bluffs Road. Lt. Tom Glor, of the Topeka Police Department, said the accident occurred when a van driven by Allen T. Schroeder, of Topeka, was passing across the eastbound US-24 highway bridge over Soldier Creek. The van was owned by Bailey Salvage. Glor said the van struck the south concrete guard rail near the west end of the eastbound bridge. After striking the south guard rail, the driver appeared to have over-corrected, and the van shot across both lanes of eastbound traffic. The van then crashed through the concrete guard rail on the north side of the eastbound bridge, taking out about 30 feet of the guard rail in the process. Broken chunks of concrete and bent rebar were all that was left in the area where the van crashed through the eastbound bridge's north guard rail, which is elevated from the highway on top of a 16-inch concrete base. After going over the base and through the north guard rail, the van became airborne and "vaulted" northeast over Soldier Creek. The van flew northeast, striking the south guard rail of the westbound bridge over Soldier Creek, authorities said. The impact made a chink in the south concrete guard rail on the westbound bridge, exposing rebar on two of the guard rail's support columns. Kansas Department of Transportation officials said the eastbound and westbound bridges on U.S.-24 highway over Soldier Creek are 27 feet apart. After striking the westbound bridge, the van dropped 39 feet, where it landed in the waters of Soldier Creek. Police said the creek was about 10 to 15 feet deep. Schroeder, who complained of shoulder pain, was able to extricate himself from the van and swim to the creek bank, Glor said. The van soon sank into Soldier Creek and was completely submerged within minutes. Source __________________ lucky, lucky man
