WATCH: Driver spectacularly misjudges distance while trying to jump across bridge gap

What was he thinking?

A Dutch man had a miraculous escape after a crazy attempt to jump his car across a retracting bridge.

The impatient 56-year-old motorist was captured on CCTV as he tried to make it across the gap while the bridge was still closing.

He misjudges the distance, smashing his car into the side of the closing bridge and ends up in the river.

Amazingly, he survived the crash into the river but injured himself as he tried to escape his car and swim to the surface. The International Business Times reports that the man was taken to hospital with broken ribs and a collapsed lung.

It is reported that local police believe he crossed a security barrier to attempt the jump.