Two Vehicles Fall After Bridge Collapses in Washington

Three passengers in vehicles on a bridge suspending the Skagit River were in for a wet and chilly surprise last week when the framework of the bridge caved in while they were driving over it. According to research, a semi-truck with an oversize load moved under the bridge and struck the framework. The pressure knocked the bridge over, causing the middle to cave in and dump two vehicles into the icy water below.

One of the passengers says that she did not know how to swim, and wouldn’t have survived had it not been for her husband. Her husband suffered a dislocated shoulder and she also went to the hospital for treatment after bumping her head and her hip during the fall into the water. All three passengers in the car suffered only minor injuries. Investigators are already looking at the bridge to determine whether an engineering error caused the structure to collapse.

There are more than 67,000 bridges in the United States, and American drivers may think twice before crossing them after the incident in Washington. ABC News reports that the investigators have not come up with an official cause, but believe that the structure of the bridge may not have been sound or up to code. ABC News says that many bridges are poorly rated and considered structurally deficient. Federal data shows that every day Americans make about 200,000,000 trips over these dangerous bridges that have the potential to collapse.

One out of every nine bridges in the United States is deemed unsound, and many have corrosion in the metals that keep them up. If you have been injured in a bridge collapse, then you deserve to seek compensation from the city. All bridges should be well-maintained and carefully inspected. If they are not, then contact a New York City personal injury attorney at the firm for more information about how you can litigate against the responsible party.