ALTUS - A Duncan man got the breath knocked out of him by a lifesaving airbag Tuesday morning when he plowed his pickup truck into the back of a van on East Broadway.

A little bruised, battered and out of breath, Larry Cook, 42, did not wish to be taken to the hospital at around 10:40 a.m. after he ran his 2007 Ford Ranger into the right rear bumper of a 2006 Dodge Caravan driven by Toni Mills, 28, of Hollis, at the intersection of Broadway and Jackson, according to the Altus police traffic report.

Both Cook and Mills were headed west in the same lane on Broadway when Mills slowed for a vehicle that was turning south onto Jackson, the report says. Cook, who was driving behind Mills' vehicle, was unable to stop and tried to swerve but he ended up smashing into the Caravan.

Mills was uninjured.