Ford Mustang splits in half during illegal street race

A street race has ended in disaster after one of the drivers lost control and smashed into a telegraph pole, splitting their car in two.

Luckily nobody was killed or seriously injured in the incident, which was caught on camera from several angles by people watching the race.

The car in question was a Fox-body Mustang – the model’s third generation, produced from 1978 until 1993. In the video, it pulls up alongside another Mustang, ready to race.

It’s not known where the race took place, although it’s expected to be in the south of the USA as an announcer mentions one car is from Mississippi and another is from New Orleans, Louisiana.

Shortly after starting the race, the driver from Mississippi loses control of his Mustang and slides off the road, striking a telegraph pole side-on. The pole splits his car into two parts in a devastating cloud of debris, leaving bystanders gasping.

The driver is seen crawling out of the wreckage, and from the second camera angle it’s possible to see that his car lacked a roll cage and that he wasn’t wearing a helmet.

Luckily, the video description notes he escaped without life-threatening illnesses – suffering a broken shoulder, broken jaw, and missing teeth.

The video’s description notes “We hope that racers will see this video and apply some of the same important safety equipment that’s required at the track when they race on the street in cars of this calibre.”

The footage is a stark reminder of the dangers of street racing, with the Los Angeles Times reporting 179 deaths relating to street racing in the last 17 years in the Los Angeles area. These deaths were mainly of pedestrians, passengers, and other innocent motorists.