A man in his 40s jumped off the Skew Railway Bridge in Tivoli, Cork yesterday at around 5.30 pm.
The man was being chased by gardaí after he stole an Audi A3 from MacCurtain Street in the city.
The man drove down the Lower Glanmire Road before approaching the bridge where he lost control of the vehicle.
He crashed into a Honda Civic that was being driven by a male in his 20s and also had a female passenger in her 20s. They both escaped with non-life threatening injuries but the female had to be cut from the wreck.
The man jumped from the bridge, which has a 35ft drop on the other side, and broke his leg.
Iarnród Éireann had to stop trains for 30 minutes while fire crew and ambulance had to winch the man from the tracks.
The road was closed for a number of hours after the crash for technical examination.
Gardaí say a large number of drivers would have witnessed the Audi being driven in the run-up to the crash.
They are appealing for witnesses to contact Mayfield Garda Station on 021-4558510.
