'This might be a good day for him to consider buying a lottery ticket'

WOODBURN, Ore. - A driver ran a stop sign and crashed under a tanker trailer, which dragged the car and driver two football fields down the road before coming to stop.

The driver told deputies he didn't see the stop sign - and he thought it took "an eternity for the truck to stop," police said.

The sheriff's office cited the driver of the car, Justin Maunder, 21, of Pendleton, Ore., with failing to stop for a stop sign.

"Mr. Maunder was extremely fortunate that his seatbelt and airbag prevented him from being seriously injured," said Deputy Casey Burnham. "This might be a good day for him to consider buying a lottery ticket."

Fog and Maunder's lack of familiarity with the area likely contributed to him not seeing the stop sign early Friday morning, the sheriff's office said. The crash happened at the corner of McVay and French Prairie roads, just south of Champoeg State Park.

The impact completely destroyed the 2008 Mazda MZ3 that Maunder was driving, Burnham said.

The Mazda got wedged under the empty milk tanker. Truck driver Darcy Obson, 60, of Vancouver, Wash., eventually brought the truck to a stop, the sheriff's office said, but not before dragging the Mazda nearly 600 feet.