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Car flies 45 metres over Swiss border hut

Malcolm Curtis
Malcolm Curtis - [email protected]
Car flies 45 metres over Swiss border hut
The driver walked away from the car wreck virtually unscathed. Photo: Swiss Border Guard

The driver of a speeding car miraculously escaped serious injury when the vehicle soared 45 metres in the air after striking a barrier at the French border crossing into Geneva, the Swiss Border Guard said on Tuesday.

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The black Audi sedan flew a distance of around 45 metres over the top of currency exchange hut, flipping in mid-air before crash-landing, border guards said.

The car rose at least five metres above the ground to clear the hut before landing on four wheels, according to a news release.

IN PICTURES: Car flies 45 metres over Swiss border hut

The incident occurred on Friday at 11pm at the Thônex-Vallard border crossing.

The vehicle was travelling at an “excessive speed” estimated at 130 kilometres an hour, the border guard service said.

“By a miracle, there was no serious injury to report.”

The driver, a man from the Gard region of southern France, received only a slight hand injury.

"The driver apparently did not know the region, which could explain in part the accident, as well as the reduced visibility because it was night time and raining," Geneva border guard spokesman Michel Bachar told the 20 Minutes newspaper.

The motorist was also in the process of adjusting his GPS when the accident occurred, the newspaper reported.

He had apparently set the cruise control of his vehicle to 130 km/h, 20 Minutes said.  

Border guards released a photo of the crumpled car along with a diagram showing the airborne trajectory of the vehicle.

Because the accident occurred on the French side of the border the investigation will be carried out in France, Swiss officials said.

The Swiss Border Guard noted that crash occurred in an area where the speed limit was 70 kilometres an hour.

Click here for more photos showing how the accident occurred
 

Diagram provided by Swiss border guards, showing trajectory of car.

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