No matter what happens on the bridge, they should have watched for people and not opened it until there was no one there. Maybe the car stalled? Even if the driver was being reckless, the guard should still have watched before opening it.
I see it was the driver's fault, they ignored the bells, flashing lights and accelerated once the gate came down. They ignored all warning signs and once on the bridge they stopped the vehicle, there was plenty of space for them to drive forward off the bridge.
@@jankington216 nope, the tender might be Wrong but We can see that the Driver definitely insanely DUMB... Why would You stop in the bridge when You can cross It, They just trying to find Excuse to fire the Tender 🗿🗿
The driver carefully lined up the car to that specific point, took his hands off the wheel, and I don't see tires spinning or anything. He sat there. This is insurance fraud. Plain and Simple.
@@MisterMooster There was at least a car length of space that you can see on camera that he could have pulled up to. He hurried to get on the bridge, driving under the other arm and then stopped on the line. He even pulled up about a foot on the video after he stopped, like he was trying to make sure his car wouldn't roll over and just stand up on it's nose. This guy should definitely be investigated.
@@frey8725 Most people don't pull right up to a barricade- they leave a car length or two between themselves and the barricade, so I think it is really not very likely to be s suspicious thing.
@@frey8725 Don't underestimate the stupidity of the human race- he may have stopped at started looking at his cellphone and then- there you go- I don't think it was planned, I think it was stupid.
Get right with Jesus because this doesn't fall on the driver. Her job was to visually verify that the bridge was clear. Period. Your opinion of motive or blame amounts to nothing. Since we want to assume we know everything, what if the tender plotted the entire thing WITH the driver? Are there stupid people? Yes. Are people looking to scam? Yes. Does that take away from her responsibilities to properly manage something of this seriousness? No.
Driver still responsible if a money plot was planned. Plenty of pedestrians, plenty of cars and plenty of bikes have crossed for years, seems the safety measures worked well for them. Somebody trying to game the system here.
@@freda2758 Explain to me how the biker was able to get off the bridge well before it closed but a person driving a car decided to stop well before the bridge even moves and has enough space to move forward off of the moving section of the bridge. Just watch the video
This seems incredibly suspicious. There was no reason for the car to stop right there. It was almost as if the driver planned this out to receive insurance money or infamy.
it illustrate how the bicyclist would fall to death when the bridge rise; you will accelerate toward the hole where the car stop and you have to jump and hold on to the edge. It doesn't matter whether the car is wrong or not because it is just an example to explain how the bridge can be lethal.
Is there a gate that goes down out of view of the camera because that's probably what stopped him... Although once I sensed the drawbridge moving up I would have plowed right through it
The driver saw the hands going down and rush to get past. Then all of a sudden stop right at the edge? I thought he was in such a hurry to get past. Seem like insurance fraud. He should be held responsible not the person opening the bridge.
@@savage101. There's also gate arms that lower. That's probably what caused him to stop. I've seen a lot of videos of railroad crossings where cars get stuck between closed gates. A car can push through the gates, but a lot of people don't seem to try to do that. Either out of panic, confusion, or whatever else.
This is nonsense talk. The ultimate responsibility for public safety in these situations is the bridge operators and owners. For instance what if a vehicle broke down or the driver suffered a medical emergency. Clearly you wouldn't kill or wish injuries on a member of the public even if they did act rashly?
No, the driver is responsible for stopping on the bridge but the tender is at fault for not checking like they’re supposed to. If these were train tracks then yes, driver’s fault.
@@TheT-90thatstaresintoyoursoul No, he had plenty of momentum and hit the brakes. You can see it in the video. Even after being slammed on the ground, the car easily took off afterwards. There was nothing wrong with the car.
There’s a gate on the other side that was down. Driver likely didn’t know exactly where the bridge was gonna open or he would have moved forward a little
Would you still be saying it's his fault if his car had broken down? You think they should just raise the bridge if someone's car stops working? Moron, think outside the box for once in your life. If you're at a gun range and someone walks out in the middle, you don't just keep shooting and say "well he shouldn't have walked out" ... Life doesn't work like that.
Does the driver of the car not have any responsibility for his own actions? It's just like a train crossing, lights, signs, bells and a gate comes down, but it's the bridge tenders fault? So the smart driver's get nothing, and the dumb ones get a million bucks. Our society is so messed up.
He had already past the 1st gate as it was closing, then encountered the 2nd gate on the way out. Still when the bridge began lifting his rear end, he should've moved forward. Guess he panicked
@@channeliwatchytvideosom7471 Bruh, look at the video. You can see the front of the car after it gets dropped. The gate is not within view. There was room for the entire car to scoot forward.
@@channeliwatchytvideosom7471 Did you watch the same video as everyone else? I could fit multiple cars into that space without them touching the actual moving components.
@@JimEnger you could have fit 3 cars in that space. Why on earth would some one stop on a span that is going to be raise up. As far as the tender not seeing the car, she was either blind or on the phone or need glasses 👓 It should take your 2-3 sweeps to check for car, bike, pedestrian, etc.....it isn't like the open the span like 20times in a hour or so or they are that busy..
Incompetence. This doesn't fall on the driver. The job is to visually verify that the bridge is clear. Period. Are there stupid people? Yes. Are people looking to scam? Yes. Does that take away from your responsibilities to properly manage something of this seriousness? No.
@@SirCatsoverhumans you ain't lying. Government and corporations are blurring the line of how they think. The cruise industry has passengers falling off ships and hasn't implemented any technological fail-safes. The government acts the same way.
But why did he stop right there . Another 10 feet he would been off the bridge. I know there is a gate there but still enough room to get off that part of the bridge. The guy on the bike made it. Its was insurance fraud gone bad people. He got out and looked for damage ( which was very minor , not enough for his deductible I guess ) and then drove away.
Because there’s gates on both ends of the bridge. When the bridge is going up, both hands of those gates drops down. He most likely stopped the in front of that gate- you physically can’t go around them unless you take them out.
That is what I thought, why in the hell did he stop? he had room, maybe he did not know he was on the joint , I think both sides gates come down at same time, I bet he saw the red lights and ran under gate as it was coming down got to the other side and did another bone head move and stopped in a bad spot when he saw the gate down.
@@santiadesjardins9105 "Because there’s gates on both ends of the bridge. When the bridge is going up, both hands of those gates drops down. He most likely stopped the in front of that gate- you physically can’t go around them unless you take them out." There's space for at least an 18 wheeler between where he stopped and where the barriers are. He really dodged a Darwin award here.
@@jayjaynella4539 Could you really blame him? I mean, he may have gotten an important phone call that he just had to take? or perhaps someone at Mickey-d's put an extra helping of stupid in his soft drink.
Buy the bridge tender is supposed to go out and check before raising the bridge, regardless. They should have stopped everything and told the driver to move.
The person on the bike next to him made it off safely, was the car driver suicidal, he ran the bridge guard, he apparently didn't realize that both sides of the bridge have one, he still could have scooched up a bit to avoid the car getting damaged. I mean everything he did was blatantly stupid. Speeding though a safety barrier, parking on the most dangerous part of the bridge , just chillin' in the car, once he left the car he still just stood there. No attempt to run away to safety, he did nothing but make a phone call at the end.
The driver set this up intentionally. He positioned himself to take the least amount of damage possible, let alone the fact that he stopped at all. There's no reason for him to have done so, and he could've cleared the gates easily. From the hinge of the bridge (where he stopped) to the barriers he would've crossed if he didn't stop? You could fit three buses in there. He had no reason to stop. I think this was some manner of insurance fraud, or someone dared him to do it for some reason. He wasn't trying to comm-- er, end himself (youtube censors); he knew where he was and changed position. Then, getting on the phone while it was happening? Seems fairly calm considering the circumstances. Who was he talking to? Has this guy come forth to the public since this incident, even writing about it on social media?
I agree! Just watching this clip I could tell something wasn't right. The cyclist kept going just fine. Most of the time it's their fault and not the employees.
@@herlescraft ye duh. Jus cause it’s their responsibility doesn’t mean they’re at fault. If I’m a train driver, I can’t stop myself from hitting the idiot that stopped on the tracks.
I’ve been a bridge operator for 7yrs. Most people adhere to the requirements to stop when the lights and bells are ringing, but a number of self entitled degenerates choose to ignore them and disobey the department of transportation and US coast guard’s stance that marine traffic takes precedence over vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Yes, these selfish bubble-world idiots make things challenging, especially when marine traffic is very close to the span. Yes blame is on those- no question BUT blame on the operator has variables. In my municipality we are equipped with cameras on both sides of the bridge, and vehicles available to jump in and go address situations like this. In this case yes, the operator is at fault. If there is no way to see the distant span the fault falls also on the infrastructure and safety elements of the municipality in my opinion. Maybe these details will wash out because I’m very curious to know. BUT, regardless the offgoing gate should have been raised for the exiting vehicle and lowered again to complete the opening BUT if there is a chronological system in the program that doesn’t allow this then that again puts some responsibility on those who have a non user friendly system into place. A death/injury is not the time to address this. Advisement should be taken by administrators from those who run the bridges to ensure the best situation.
Thanks for the actual informative comment, too many arm chair lawyers outright suspecting the people being harmed as suspicious and fraudulent. They just don’t want to believe their systems in place have faults
After watching the video a second time, this was clearly the driver's fault, maybe an attempt at insurance fraud? Why in the heck did he stop, THEN try to get out? He could have easily fallen through the opening like the lady did on the other bridge. I think they should have suspended the lady and fixed the problem with the railing blocking her line of site.
They might’ve thought the warnings that blocked them in were for a train or something and stopped ahead of it not knowing it was actually a draw bridge.
The driver has responsibility in this as well. Looks as if the driver was trying to beat the arm as it was coming down. They put Their own life in danger💯
@@suzannadannaTARDIS well let assume there was a "gate" the driver should have just drove past the stick. It might have saved their lives. WHY DID THEY STOP THO
The driver should receive a fine, HOWEVER, the person working the drawbridge is still responsible. I also believe the city is responsible as well for not having cameras that could detect cars/pedestrians as a fail safe measure for human error.
He stopped before the gate which is what he was supposed to do. The idiots that built the bridge shouldn't have blocked both lanes, that's how people get blocked inside. Didn't they have a pedestrian bridge that collapsed as well as a condo? Do engineers have to attend school in Florida?
@@bobdarker519 The bells and gates were already in motion by the time he rushed his way through. If you trying to actual beat the bridge why stop at the very obvious bridge joint? And he sat there for half a minute. More than enough time to GTFO. 100% the driver's fault I hope he is charged.
@@kayakexcursions5570 How do you react to rail crossings that are clearly engaged? Are you the type of dumbshit to try and beat the train and then blame the train operator for crushing you? The driver sat on the bridge for almost a minute. Clear insurance fraud that hopefully leads to jail time for this dumbshit.
@@iHardscope68 fraud? Lol. There is cameras all over that bridge. The bridge tender would have easily seen that car. How do you think they got this video footage? The control tower is just right there. You don't think the tender could have looked outside and be like "hey, that idiot stopped on the bridge." And told him to get off the bridge. Dude was likely distracted. Maybe too busy looking at his phone, and just decided to stop on the line thinking it was some kind of stopping point. How hard is it to check the cameras. Look out the window before raising the bridge? Its probably one of the easiest jobs in the world. But because its so easy, I imagine bridge tenders not talking it seriously and being on their phone, or whatever. I can't be that hard to open and close a bridge without killing anyone. The bridge tender could have just gone out and hold him with a megaphone to get off the bridge, and he probably would have gotten off.
Years ago in St. Petersburg, FL, a similar incident happened when 4 elderly women stopped at the junction where the two halves of the bridge separate and were trapped, dangling between the 2 sections. Then a few years back, before the new high-rise bridge in Jensen Beach, FL was built, I was late night fishing off the bridge when upriver a barge began to approach. As the barge got closer the captain began blowing his horn and flashing his spotlight at the bridge tender's booth, nothing happened. As the barge drew closer, I ran up to the booth and could hear the barge's captain frantically calling over the radio, but the tender was sleeping, out like a light. I banged on the booth's door and was able to wake him just in time to open the draw bridge for the barge, which would have had no chance of stopping in time.
yeah the guy should not have been sleeping but really , your just gonna have a go at the bridge without first making sure the thing is gonna open seriously , what if the guy was not sleeping but dead of a heart attack , you don't just aim a barge at a bridge and assume it will open , could be a mechanic problem ect ect , totally barges fault .
@@williambrennan5701 totally? by the way there was high rise bridge construction down river with a steady stream of barge traffic throughout that period of construction
And your reply makes no sense, the very heavy barge tried for quite some distance to alert the tender, while your far fetched possibilities exist, I did save the day.
@@jeffstrickland8344 I think it is a good point….a single bridge worker could be unconscious or incapacitated from a heart attack, stroke, aneurism, etc. There does need to be a better system on place as a back up. But good job being in the right place at the right time and not panicking!
The tender has a certain amount of time to open bridge for the undergoing boat. The car stopped just to a an a hole. Clearly they abused the warning lights just to get over.
This is the driver's fault why they stopped on the bridge you should have kept going if you don't know how to safely cross the bridge in your car then you shouldn't be driving a car across the bridge
@@ecabral784 Had enough space? The guy didn’t even know the bridge was going to open (having too much trust in the employee) let alone know where the seam would be.
As engineers you must plan for things like this. The general population is pretty smart but there are some actions that people take that makes you question why they did what they did, as part of a good engineering design is to anticipate for stupid things like this and plan or execute fail safes so it does not ever happen.
Youre saying a good engineer has to idiot proof their designs. By the standards of our society I would agree with your definition of good engineer. I propose we change societies standards and let Darwinism sort it out. I accept the fact that it may directly affect myself or those I care about, it's for the greater good.
I have known a bridge tender. All of the safeguards and protections you speak of already exist with these bridges, the operator simply failed to use them. There is no way without neglect that any of these situations would happen. They even have a pa speaker to yell at the car that stopped for no reason. The operator gets too comfortable with the routine and neglects to follow the procedure.
This is why bridge-tenders are not public employees. The private contracting company sends all its income to bridgetenders and executives paychecks. They can be sued into bankruptcy, lose no money because they don't have any, and restart a new corporation the next day with all the same personnel. Very common in government.
If the man in this video would have stopped when the gate was coming down instead of speeding up and if he would have kept going instead of stopping where he did he would not have been in harms way. There was a warning alarm and the gate with flashing lights. Crossing a draw bridge is just like crossing railroad tracks. Dumb or distracted drivers are always going to gamble with their lives. I don't blame the people operating the bridges. But if you are blaming human error the drivers are at fault too. And you all didn't mention the person on the bike. The state can avoid human error by installing automatic draw bridges. And then you will see how many idiots are out there.
If the US has a law to prosecute someone who is never at fault and takes the blame of some drunk as a skunk old lady falling through the gap, or this idiot driver who decided to stop at the moving bridge about to go up, it needs a complete overhaul of regulatory change. The driver is completely at his fault. In here, if you killed someone with your vehicle and that someone happened to be at fault, like jumping into a moving traffic, and getting killed as a result, no one goes to jail. Pedestrians as well as victims can’t be doing these dangerous things and car driver won’t be blamed. Why someone jumps into a moving bridge and end up dying and allowed to sue the city. Absolutely ridiculous.
Yes, he raced to beat the falling gate arm. He stopped behind the arm facing traffic the other side of bridge. Like getting caught between the arms guarding a railroad track. Others state he had room to pull up farther and clear the "gap", but who knows where the actual gap is when faced with an emergency of your OWN making.
Absolutely no one with common sense would immediately just stop on a bridge if an alarm is ringing. I swear humanity is regressing at an alarming rate and it’s terrifying.
@@jrow84 yes he was blocked in, but you can clearly see that there was enough room for him to stop his car literally 6 feet away to where he would have been safe from this incident.
@@tronixrex6038 So during the 33 seconds the car was stopped because the gates came down you think the driver could have clearly figured out what was going on and the best response. Monday morning quarterbacks always know best.
For dramatic effect, the attorney should have setup his table and press conference on the movable span of the drawbridge. Then when his presentation is complete, he could walk off, while the bridge lifts behind him and his table falls between the gaps of the bridge.
@@itsyooboii1464 If that's what clever looks like for you, wow. Ha! More like someone with too much free time so their fantasy/imagination is running away with them. Haha!
I dont understand how he didnt see the bridge warnings, and even decided it would be a good idea to try to beat that bridge. He looked like he was going pretty fast imo. Usually those drawbridges have low speeds. Like 30-35. Source : I literally live in Florida and have dealt with them my whole life lmao.
@@thooke222 Yeah, but so many people were already talking about that lmao. "hE pRoBaBlY dIdNt SeE tHe BrIdGe JoInT!" Lmao. Look out your window to make sure you're not on it genius? You can CLEARLY see it in the road, both before he stopped on it, and if he JUST had looked out the window to make sure he wasn't on it. Even how he was panicing and opening the door like he was gonna try to get out. WHERE YOU GONNA GO BRO?! YOU CAN'T STEP ON ANYTING, YOUR CAR IS SUSPENDED.
@@joegomez5463 I mean all bridges have joints, it’s possible this person was new to the the area, saw the rails go up to block them in and stopped unknowingly that it was a draw bridge. Maybe they thought the warnings were for a train and they stopped well ahead of the warning rails.
I don’t get it. My garage has safety sensors that won’t close with anything on the way, car windows have finger guards, shops have automatic doors.. why can’t bridges have some kind of back up sensors?
@@ricksaunders3889 trains can't stop on time, and most people are aware of that at this point. There was countless ads for years about not trying to beat the train. The public was never educated on bridges. Its a pretty big difference. I'm don't know why the car stopped but the operator clearly failed to do their job. They basically have one job and they didn't do it. You might as well make the bridge automatic. Why even bother paying a bridge tender? Their job is to ensure nobody is on the bridge when it opens. Imagine failing at the one thing you're supposed to do and then saying it's not your fault.
@@ricksaunders3889 except the blinking light is manually controlled. If you're not going to take responsibility, then just make it automatic and run ads to make let the public know that you're just going to kill them if they don't get off. I'm sure that will go well with the general public.
For the people making comments about the bridgetender being at fault, it takes a full 2 minutes from the initiation of the bridge raising to the time it is raised. It's a full 30 seconds before the gates even go down. There is no reason a car traveling at the posted speed cannot make it across the bridge and off the other side on e bells and alarms start to warn them.
@@kimberleegarcia2363 but you dont stop if your already half way on the bridge u finish crossing if you stop on a railroadtrack and the train starts coming are you gonna sot there ?
The posted speed sure. This guy though was being safe! Just because the sign says you can go 45 doesn't mean you have to. He was going 15 to be safe. Don't you know it's safer when you go slower? This is Florida after all, /s
He is refering to the pedestrian that died walking across a bridge that lifted and killed her while she was half way across. Not the incident with the car.
Tons of room for that car to get off that part bridge and how did he not feel it moving? They open much slower in real life, go to 0:26, and set the playback speed to .25. He dodged a darwin award. The bridge tender should have just gotten out of their seat to check.
@@pacoramirez7363 No need to leave the controls. Just stand up so they can see over the railing. She had a camera view of the car but still didn't see it.
Driver never should have stopped where he stopped. Looks like he did this on purpose. He could have driven past the line…nothing was in his way. That incident was the drivers doing and he should have been sought out and punished for it. The elderly woman that died is a different story and these types of bridges should have more things in place to prevent it from happening.
@@kayakexcursions5570 Nah look up the picture of the bridge idiot. He clearly has 10-20 feet of space to move forward until he would reach the arm. This driver is either a complete idiot or a smart thief to sue the city. No reason for them to stop right there.
@@kayakexcursions5570 my guy . You can see in the video that’s there’s enough space to fit a whole car in area between him and the arm . Your the dope .
Almost certainly was an insurance claim attempt by the driver. There's no reason to stop right at the edge of the bridge like that. Hope the driver gets what's coming to them. Feel awful for the drawbridge tender. That viewing obstruction really should get handled because it seems to prevent them from checking easily.
I agree on the insurance scam - The driver likely didn't realize the drawbridge could be stopped once it started to raise, so he timed his crossing and already knew exactly where to stop to survive without injury - any further back and the car would plunge some distance before it hit, any further forward and it would be out of danger altogether. It would be interesting to see any surveillance footage of his car's positioning at the beginning - was he dawdling? Was his car parked somewhere he could observe a boat coming? Also, any earlier surveillance footage from the same camera might be revealing - was he doing previous recon on the place to stop, perhaps on foot, perhaps only a day earlier? In this lawsuit-crazy society of ours, where would this kind of thing end for those making the payouts? At the very least, insurance companies will be hiring investigators on a par with city police forces, in terms of resources if not legal powers. This reminds me of a lawsuit I heard about involving a pygmy rattlesnake bite at a Florida Walmart's garden center. Apparently the snake was in a potted plant. The fact is, a pygmy rattler would never stay put there for the time it took to ship the plant from it's source to the selling floor, and then the time it would sit on the selling floor until it was finally sold. In addition, pygmy rattler venom is mild, easily survived with a minimum risk of permanent damage and minimum pain. My guess is that the person bit chose that particular Walmart for it's proximity to a hospital.
This has everything to do with these people needing their license taken away. They’re 100% at fault. If they can’t know to know to not stop on a bridge they should be arrested.
Maybe one day you will grow up and realise that sometimes people make mistakes, and they don't deserve to have their lives put a risk for a mistake. Let's hope you don't get into an unfamiliar situation where you panic and your life is put at risk, because then you will eat your words.
@@user23724 have had my license for a while. Sir if you even so much as hit a cone on your driving test you are ruled incompetent and the test is over. So how the hell is it people with licenses are allowed to make such mistakes. Smh. I hope you don’t drive.
@@user23724 Those are usually the same people who put other lives at risk through their incompetencies or "mistakes". If you can't play, get off the court and if you can't drive, get off the road.
@@MontanaDior yeah let me stick my leg out near this huge moving machine part with two mating surfaces that could easily crush me, seems like a great idea. By 0:32 the hole is already big enough to fall through. In any case, the negligence of the bridge tender is the root problem, not the driver.
@@tissuepaper9962 Sir, is this your car?? Lmaoooo The video is obviously sped up… you had more than enough time! Relax and take a break from the internet ☮️✨
Lawyer: "Our goal is to make sure this never ever happens again." Lawyers whispers to family member: "And to make sure we get $100 million dollars out of this whole thing." Family member nods head.
Great lawyer; he has a plan to see that no accidents will ever happen again. Maybe he could enlighten the rest of the world, since no one has been able to accomplish this to date.
I've been to South Florida... As passenger and driver, last I recall, the barricade is only before the cut-off point in the direction the traffic moves. Meaning, there's a reasonable and good chance, there wasn't a barricade by the time he reached the other side. Unless I completely missed the point where he did a three-point of a u-turn and went back the way he came from. Disregarding there is definitely enough space to move forward, it doesn't make sense to stop right there. Physics.
There are barricades on both sides. They are called near side and far side. The near side barricades are the first ones at the entrance to the bridge. They come down first. Then all traffic is prevented from getting on the bridge. The far side barricades come down later which allows pedestrians and vehicles that were already on the bridge before the near side barricades came down to exit the bridge.
If the driver was looking for a payout, why would they take off and disappear? They were on their phone not paying attention and thought that line in front of the bridgetender tower was the place to stop.
Seems like that tower isn't tall enough for a full visible view of the span. In my experience in retail people will do what they want to do or think they have a right to do & just go ahead & do it anyways.
2 options are available to you here. Option 1, turn the car sideways to get off the bridge. Option 2, smash through the crossing gate. Option 1 is preferred, but if you lack critical thinking then Option 2 is for you. Instead they chose Option 3 which was to just sit there and risk death/injury. Crossing guard's fault for not checking, but the driver did nothing to help their situation. Heck, when they opened the door I started internally screaming "DON'T DO IT" because at that point you're jumping down into the hinge of the drawbridge.
I have a feeling the driver wasn’t totally paying attention and stopped thinking the bridge was ahead of him, on the other side of the crossing gate where he stopped.
Or the driver could've 1.) waited for the bridge to go up and then down like they should've 2.) if they were determined to speed through like they did, then don't stop right at the edge of the bridge. Drive a few meters forward and you're completely off the bridge easily. The bridge tender absolutely should have checked more thoroughly, but that doesn't make what the driver did acceptable either.
The driver basically went through flashing lights a lights and then SLOWS DOWN before the end of the bridge. He made no attempt to get out until the car was about to crash. Very very suspicious.
Why did the driver stop in the first place he had enough time to cross and get to safety!! Approximately 30 seconds that was more than enough time i think he was being an idiot!! Not the woman's fault in this situation
Does the bridge require separate activation of gates and raising the bridge, or is it a single press of a button? Because it is a big safety risk if it raises the bridge without confirmation of the driving area being empty And it's also bad if you can't see the entire driving area of the bridge without leaving the control tower
Well, the bridge tender has access to this video footage, so.... She just wasn't paying attention. Its a gray car, so it sort of blends in with the road, but if she was paying attention, she would have easily caught it. It probably wouldn't have happened if the car was red, but you can't blame your mistake on the color of the car.
Well no kidding; I think the average age of a bridge tender in south Florida is around 75 years old. How old was the driver? It's pretty stupid to stop on the hinge....
Hey Jerry Springer genius do you know if this person ever was on that bridge before? You don't so you're speaking of the top of your flat head. The person that's never been on the bridge before he may not know where the seams are at where it's rising in front of them or behind them they just react to the lights so don't think that anybody would deliberately do that you genius Einstein boy what a dumb comment and you talk about other people look in the mirror
Its the driver's fault for stopping at the hinge of the draw bridge and the lady that died was arrogant to see a boat coming to a draw bridge and assume the bridge would stop just for her even though the boat had the right of way. This appears to be willful acts of ignorance meant to incite urgency about this bridge.
It is most certainly not the driver's fault. He followed traffic laws by stopping at the light. The boat never has right of way to a drawbridge with pedestrians or vehicles on it. It should never have been opened.
Being a former bridge tender, the 3 bridges I was responsible for all had cameras that covered every angle. That was 30 years ago!! No excuses are valid with today's technology. The operator obviously was too lazy to get out of her chair and look out the window.
State or County should be held accountable for not having an electronic safety system, which protects the lowest common denominators of our society, such as the bridge tender AND the car operator!
I know this looks like a scam, and I agree the driver deliberately stopped his car in the PERFECT SPOT to get himself in this situation. The only thing that makes me question if this was a ploy for a lawsuit is that in the terminated employee's written statement, she indicated that she closed the bridge, noticed the car and that the driver "took off and never stopped"., So it's not like he stuck around and waited for medical aid or even to yell at anyone for 'doing this to him'. He just left... He could have taken this to the moon and back by sticking around for the police and claim that he hit his head on the steering wheel when his car slammed back down. Right now my ruling is that the driver is an idiot. I'll change my ruling to Scam Artist if we later find out he is indeed suing.
I tended Drawbridges for ten years and never had an accident and I tended six span bridges. Where are they recruiting these people from soup kitchens and halfway houses. I know bridge tending companies don't like to pay . They always take the cheap way out.
Why is none of the news stories asking the driver why the he'll did he stop? Trying to make a scene for a lawsuit against the bridge? If he stopped for no reason...he should lose his driver's license and his man card... what a total knuckkehrad.
In my view the bridge tender deserves very little of the blame for the first incident. Maybe she could have checked a little more carefully, but they guy should not have continued onto the bridge as the gates were going down, should not have stopped where he did on the other side of the bridge, and should not have tried to get out of his car while the bridge was open. And the county should have ensured better sightlines for the bridge tender, and I call BS that they couldn't have some sort of alarm system in place that could detect vehicles on the bridge and prevent opening.
There are so many variables in play: I do believe the Tenders need to be aware of these idiot drivers, let's be objective... It's easy to Monday morning arm-chair quarter back, and observe from a calm advantage. My take this driver was obviously reckless, and wanted to cash out.. The Tenders need to operate a safe and efficient functioning bridge, with consideration to protect people, themselves , the Tower and their Institution Redundancies need to be in place anytime dealing with people and machines. The Training ad Experience of Tenders, the work load (Operations Tempo) , Safety Devices/placards in place, Lights and Sirens, Loud /ear piercing Horn Blaring, Human Variables of the Tenders, fatigue, attention to detail when scanning or observing. The design of the bridge , place Delta Barriers vice drop arms better. Design of Observation Tower /field of view , (no Obstructions). Perhaps place additional Tenders (one observing announcing road is clear, and another Tender operating buttons. Paint the entire bridge a bright red or yellow color from pivot point to pivot point , label it marked in Black and Yellow Danger Zone markings so people Do NOT stop on the bridge .
Watching this I now can picture how that lady on the bike got killed. Rest her soul. A witness said she was 10 feet from making it off. I was like how could she not make it off in time? Ive never ever had to cross a drawbridge so honestly I might have stopped like this guy if I saw the arm/gate shut.
Hi there, I use to work for lake ave a few months ago before I found a higher paying job. Events like these usually happen when people try to outrun the road barricades or squeeze under them. Certain vessels can't stop as fast just as that of trains taking Tugs for example carrying massive weight. These vessel can damage or cause the bridge to collapse thus you must open them ahead of time. I worked for FDI and the bridges have a large gap for vehicles mostly maintenance to sit while it opens so this is mighty sus for this person to slow down and park on the span edge like that in the blind spot of the tower seeing you are not allowed to leave the control panel while operating any bridge so this bridge master was set up to loose their job either way cause of this. Not to mention these bridges block the side of the bridge where the traffic is coming from as there are no barricades for cars on the opposite end seeing the biker was able to get across ...faster then the car ? Mind you the biker is in the bike lane and that lane is on the road with a safety wall separating them from pedestrian walk way, opens everyday at set and publicly known times and is very low compared to lake ave. Sus detected.
I never did like bridge s much. Although there is usually a fantastic view from the bridge. I would imagine there could be a blink system like we have in newer cars on the side mirrors when they alert you that someone or something is behind us approaching so don't go in reverse or turn out of your lane. Cameras to see what's on the bridge i.e. people or cars, bikes, animals etc. That easy. As drivers we count on the bridge officer to know what to do and make appropriate decisions in an instant. We really don't mind waiting for complete safety.
Problem is that while YOU may not mind waiting for safety's sake, there are plenty of others who simply cannot tolerate being forced to wait even a few extra seconds much less a few minutes. And because they believe their time is much more valuable than everyone else's time and safety, they act stupidly. Why do you think we still have accidents from people still racing to beat stoplights at intersections or trains at crossings?
As a draw bridge worker aren't you looking at the bridge before you turn the switch on?.....I mean isn't that how you would do the job. Even if the driver tried to beat the light, no way should the bridge start to move, if they are paying attention. I would think that is a big part of your job raising that thing. Didn't somebody else past while walking on these types of bridges like a couple week ago?
