A North Carolina tractor-trailer driver has been charged by New York State Police with striking 18 different overpasses along the New York State Thruway in Central New York. That’s right. He hit 18 overpasses.
According to the New York State Police, they received an unusual report from the Thruway Authority last week. At around 1:45 p.m., the Thruway Authority informed police that a tractor-trailer was hauling an over-height excavator on a flatbed trailer. They also reported that the tractor-trailer had struck multiple overpasses while traveling westbound between Exits 30 and 36.
That was only the tip of the iceberg.
After troopers assigned to the State Police Syracuse located the tractor-trailer, a 2019 Freightliner, they pulled the driver over in the town of Salina. Upon further investigation, Syracuse.com reported that he had hit 18 overpasses with the excavator over approximately 60 miles.
Somehow, none of the impacts resulted in any reported injuries, lane closures, or major traffic delays. A few overpasses sustained substantial damage, but most only sustained minor damage.
The driver of the tractor-trailer was charged with second-degree reckless endangerment. He also received over 20 traffic fines, some of which were for violating federal commercial motor vehicle safety standards.
“Reckless and ignorant driver behavior has serious consequences,” said Thruway Authority Executive Director Frank G. Hoare. “How a tractor-trailer driver could be unaware that his load hit more than a dozen bridges is beyond comprehension. … While bridge hits plague states across the nation, we are committed to holding irresponsible drivers accountable.”
The ‘bridge hits plague’ across the nation is real
In January, multiple vehicles were involved in a crash in California when an over-height semi-truck struck a steel overpass support beam. The beam fell onto the 10 Freeway in Ontario, blocking lanes and causing the crash.
A similar incident occurred approximately three months prior to that on the opposite side of the freeway. In that case, no fallen beam caused the delays, but an over-height semi did clip the overpass.
In November, a semi hit a bridge in Kansas so hard that the 55,000-pound excavator it was hauling punched a hole in the road above it. About one month later, an “illegally over-height” semi truck damaged six county bridges in Oklahoma. Crews had to shut down four of the bridges to allow for inspections and repairs.
And don’t even get us started on the “truck-eating” bridge in Kansas City.