If you’ve ever had nightmares about a drawbridge opening while you were on it, you might want to look away as video has emerged of a scary incident that took place on the Ocean Avenue Bridge in Lantana, Florida last October.
Obtained by WPTV, the clip shows a bicyclist and Honda Accord traveling across the bridge as a crossing gate lowers in the distance. The same thing is apparently happening at the other end of the bridge, just off camera, and this causes the Accord to come to a stop.
While the bicyclist manages to get off the bridge, the Accord is apparently trapped. Things quickly take a scary turn as the bridge begins to raise and this pushes the Accord’s front bumper into the fixed section of the bridge. As this is happening, the car’s rear end raises with the bridge and leaves the driver in a precarious position.
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As the Accord tilts more than 45°, the driver opens the door and gets ready to jump to safety. However, the bridge begins pushing the Accord forward and this causes the driver to rethink jumping. Instead, they get back inside and hit the accelerator.
This initially doesn’t work, but the car eventually slides down the bridge and the driver accelerates, causing the rear end to slam into the gap between the fixed and moveable sections of the bridge. This is obviously less than ideal, but it allowed the driver to escape to safety. The bridge eventually closes and the Accord is then driven out of view.
The station says the bridge tender (operator) told investigators she didn’t see the vehicle until the drawbridge closed. While that may have been the case, she was fired for “violating policies, including visually checking the spans.”