If you’ve ever crossed a drawbridge and thought you’d hate to get caught there while it’s doing its thing, here’s a scary look into just what that’s like.
The video above shows a car crossing a bridge in Lantana, Fla., over the Intracoastal Waterway. The Honda Accord begins to cross the bridge, and the safety gates lower behind him. He is almost across when the bridge when he’s confronted by the safety gate ahead of him, and stops. That’s when the bridge starts to rise, and the car gets lifted along with it. As the situation continues to unfold, the driver opens his car door as if to jump out, but there’s clearly a gap below him large enough to fall through, 40 feet to water below, so he scraps that idea. Eventually, the lifted bridge spits the Accord out onto level pavement, and safety. We’ve got to hand it to the driver for appearing to be so calm when he steps out of the car. Incredibly, when the bridge settles back into place, he’s able to drive away.
County officials told CBS12 that the bridge operator was a county employee who has been fired. WPBF reported that the bridge operator relied only on camera views of the bridge rather than stepping out of the control booth, and did not see the car.
This incident occurred back on Oct. 21, but it is just now surfacing in the wake of a more recent tragedy — the death of a 79-year-old woman under similar circumstances earlier this month. Carol Wright was crossing a West Palm Beach drawbridge on her bicycle when the bridge started to rise. She held on to the bridge railing for several minutes before falling five or six stories to the concrete below. The bridge tender is being investigated for possible negligence.