If a hapless Russian driver were to adapt his freak-accident experience into a major movie, he might want to call it A Bridge Too Close. Instead, a 10-second dashcam video recorded on Tuesday and documented by Pravda—capturing the moment a bridge collapsed right in front of a vehicle—will have to do.
Fortunately, No Fatalities
First, the good news. The driver, his parents, and his son were shaken up by the incident but didn't suffer from any serious injuries. The car, however, was a write-off with one of the overpass beams managing to turn the vehicle's hood into a crater and the entire front end flattened on the asphalt.
It all started when the car was travelling on Moscow's Rublevskoye Highway following a cement truck. The camera caught the truck driving through an underpass before the vehicle's hopper scraped against the bottom of the bridge. The gouge was enough to compromise the overpass structure, causing the concrete beams to collapse onto the car.
Beams Crushed The Sedan's Hood
Miraculously, the damaged sedan was several car lengths from the cement truck before the incident happened. Quick thinking enabled the driver to stop and avoid any tragedy should one of the beams crush the roof of the car. Highway traffic was blocked for hours while police investigated the incident.
It's not uncommon for trucks to cause bridge accidents due to miscalculations in height clearance. In particular, big rigs are major culprits, not only damaging cargo and infrastructure, but also contributing to human casualties.
Bridges Cause 2% Of Traffic Fatalities In U.S.
The driver was lucky in that he saw the chain of events unfold, giving him precious time to save his family. Statistics on fatality rates of these types of incidents aren't widely available, although a U.S. Department of Transportation study cited that traffic accidents involving bridges accounted for two percent of fatal collisions in 2018, a year that saw 36,560 motorists, passengers and pedestrians die as a result of collisions with fixed objects.
Source: Pravda, U.S. Department of Transportation