A Californian man discovered the dangers of driving around with a mobile phone when the device went off, distracting him and causing a smash that left his car submerged in a creek.
Luckily, however, the 28-year-old was able to escape from his vehicle by employing a novel life-saving method - shooting out the estate car's window with his handgun and then crawling to safety.
According to the Roseville Press Tribune, the armed security guard - an employee of the evocatively-named Thunder Valley Casino - blew a hole in the Ford Focus as the vehicle lay submerged around two metres beneath Pleasant Grove Creek.
After making good his escape, he headed back to the road and hailed a passing car for help.
He told investigators that his mobile went off suddenly, startling him and causing him to crash through a guardrail and plunge into the creek. Police confirmed that there was no evidence of drugs or alcohol.
A representative from Roseville Fire Department told cbs13.com that the driver's quick thinking was a factor in the accident's outcome.
He added that this type of crash was "extremely dangerous, especially when the vehicle is fully submerged".
The security guard was taken to hospital suffering from minor injuries.
But while it's not the first time that a mobile phone has played a part in watery crash, the previous high-profile incident is likely to have resulted in a somewhat higher repair bill. Last November, a £1 million Bugatti Veyron - piloted by a driver who apparently dropped his phone after being spooked by a pelican - finished up in a Texas marsh.
