This is the astonishing moment a driver plunged 40ft off an unfinished bridge after getting confused by Google Maps, before making a miraculous landing.
Rudie Heru Komandono, 61, had set up his smartphone on the dashboard of his BMW 3 Series and was following his map to a friend’s house on April 9.
While the app had mapped the new road in East Java, Indonesia and rerouted him away from the incomplete highway, he was perplexed by the change in direction.
Instead of taking a slip road, Rudie passed through a gap in a concrete barrier and ploughed ahead.
Shocking video showed his luxury sedan hurtling off the incomplete flyover and crashing down into the road below.
Rudie was lucky not to hit any other cars as he landed bumper-first in the lane closest to the median.
Two cars and a motorcycle had only just cleared the impact zone when the car came flying down.
He later claimed it was ‘not my fault’ as he was ‘trying to follow the GPS’ on his phone.
Rudie’s car crashed through the barrier to an unfinished bridge and landed in the road
He only narrowly missed two cars and a motorbike using the busy road
Medics later arrived at the scene to treat Rudie and his female passenger, Endang Sri Wahyuni, 47, who both survived the nightmare crash with minor injuries.
Rudie said: ‘The road suddenly became dark and there were no other cars.
‘Then I realised there was a problem when the car started falling and crashed on the ground.
‘My friend said she is not getting in the car with me again. But it was not my fault.
‘I was trying to follow the GPS on my phone, but it was confusing.
‘I’m worried about the insurance for the car. I don’t think it can be repaired.’
Inspector Aswoko, Head of the Law Enforcement Unit of the Gresik Police Traffic Unit, said Rudie had slipped into the restricted area through a gap in the traffic barriers.
There are lanes on either side to exit the elevated expressway – which Rudie should have taken – but he carried on driving straight, which took him to the unfinished bridge on the JI Tol Manyar – Mojokerto road.
Rudie said it was not his fault, because he was following a map on his phone
Moments before, the headlights of the car can be seen as Rudie approaches the gap
Inspector Aswoko said: ‘The driver of the car was too focused on looking at Google Maps.
‘He didn’t realise he had passed the barrier that was blocking access to the unfinished toll road.
‘The driver and passenger have been treated by a doctor at the hospital and did not suffer serious injuries. They have been allowed to go home.’
Officers said they have since closed the gap that the car had passed through. They will also put up warning signs to prevent other drivers from making the same mistake.
Inspector Aswoko added: ‘Traffic officers have taken measures to prevent an incidentfrom happening again.
‘The construction company will also be interviewed to discover why the bridge was not fully sealed off.’
In November last year, three men died in a similar road accident after their car’s sat-nav sent them careering off the 30ft edge of an unfinished bridge in India.
Kaushal Kumai, Vivek Kumar, and Amit Kumar were travelling back from a wedding in Gurgurgam when they drove off a bridge connecting Faridpur and Dataganj over the Ramganga River.
Their bodies were discovered the next day, local media reported.
Investigators found that the trio had been following an out-of-date map on Google Maps at speed.
CCTV showed the moment Rudie went flying off the unfinished bridge into traffic
The car landed bumper-first in the middle of the road. Miraculously, both passengers were fine
The mapping service allegedly told them to travel down the bridge, which had no signs indicating it was out of use after it suffered a collapse in 2022 following heavy flooding.
Unaware they weren’t meant to be driving down it, let alone at speed, the drivers plummeted to their deaths.
The three men all worked as security guards, according to local media
Their bodies were transported by boat to the nearby city of Faridpur for a formal post-mortem examination.
