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Car dangles off parking garage in Austin

Posted at 8:34 PM, Sep 09, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-09 20:34:02-04
Friday was ruined for a Texas driver who drove off the top of a parking garage in downtown Austin, leaving the vehicle dangling several stories above an alley.

Friday was ruined for a Texas driver who drove off the top of a parking garage in downtown Austin, leaving the vehicle dangling several stories above an alley.

Friday was ruined for a Texas man who drove off the top of a parking garage in downtown Austin, leaving the vehicle dangling several stories above an alley.

“The driver was (miraculously) able to climb out of the sunroof and make his way safely back into the garage,” the Austin Fire Department posted on Facebook.

“The driver was still in the driver seat when I came outside,” witness Andrew Miller told CNN affiliate KXAN. “It looked pretty dangerous even though it wasn’t swinging.”

The 24-year-old driver told fire officials his 2004 Toyota 4-Runner would not stop as he tried to pull into a parking spot on the top floor of the nine-story parking deck, Austin Fire Department spokesman Palmer Buck told CNN.

The vehicle snapped three of the five safety cables along the edge of the structure. One cable wrapped itself around the front axle, causing the car to flip over and pinning the roof against the side of the garage, Buck said.

The driver was shaken up but not hurt, but the Toyota appears to be totaled, Buck said. Fire officials credit the man’s seatbeat with keeping him securely inside the vehicle as it flipped.