Indianapolis Canal

Downtown Indianapolis is home to a canal that many people like to enjoy. In the warmer months, the canal is a great place to go to enjoy a paddle boat or a gondola ride, or even a serene place to take a walk around the canal. With the figid temperatures the Hoosier state has seen over the last week, the Indianapolis canal saw a first, a car driving down the frozen canal.

Tik Tok/Canva

Driver Mistakes Icy Canal for a Road

On December 26th around 11 PM, 911 calls came in reporting a car driving on the frozen canal in downtown Indianapolis. The driver was a 33-year-old woman who claimed her GPS mistakenly took her onto the canal. Unfortunately, the ice didn't hold, and eventually, her car broke through the ice and into the water. Thankfully the driver was rescued from the vehicle with the help of bystanders. Here is what the Indianapolis Fire Department had to say about the incident:

11:02 PM - IFD Divers investigated after a 33 year old female driver drove her car onto the canal and broke through the ice plunging it into the frigid cold water near 350 W New York St. . The driver told firefighters that her GPS took her onto the canal, in the area of the Colts Canal Playspace off of St. Clair St. The driver went down the embankment, through the park and onto the canal - headed north. The driver continued north on the canal until she came to the dead end at 10th street where she turned around headed south. The car broke through the ice before she got to New York St. The driver made it out of the car with the help of several bystanders and waited in the lobby of a nearby hotel. Medics checked her on scene and transported her to Eskenazi for check out.

According to a report from Fox59, the woman was later arrested for driving under the influence.

@charlesmiddleton1020 #naptown317 #indianapolis #Canal #foryoupage ♬ Original Sound - Unknown

Footage of Car on the Canal Goes Viral

I first heard of the car driving down the canal on Tik Tok as various bystanders happened to record the car driving down the iced-over water. The footage is absolutely wild to see. I don't know how the car got down to the canal, but it's not like accidentally turning the wrong way onto a one-way, I mean this is completely going off of the road and then just continuing. I'm just thankful no one was seriously hurt.