BOCA RATON, FLA. (WSVN) - Stunning video has drawn attention to a drawbridge dilemma near West Palm Beach.
A driver tried to cross a bridge when the unimaginable happened.
The incident took place just weeks before a pedestrian fell to her death on another bridge.
Shocking new video captured the moment a drawbridge near West Palm Beach began to open while a car was still on the edge.
The car teetered over the pit, and the driver seemed to have considered jumping to safety.
That’s before the car slid forward just in time.
The incident happened back in October.
The drawbridge superintendent and other county officials confirmed that the bridge tender who was on duty that day was fired.
This incident came to light just weeks after 79-year-old Carol Wright fell to her death as she was walking on a different drawbridge that opened as she was crossing.
The investigation is still ongoing, but the community is demanding answers.
“I was very frightened. I thought, this poor woman, how it must have traumatized. Unclear as to how it all happened,” said Margaret, an area resident.
“It should really, really, really never happen,” said Boca Raton City Council member and state representative candidate Andy Thomson.
Thomson said that these incidents have local lawmakers talking about additional safety protocols and training for bridge tenders.
“We probably should have folks that are working in those roles as bridge tenders, maybe have some sort of certification process associated with it, or perhaps some sort of enhanced training to make sure that they know the job they’re doing,” he said, “and for the most part, that they do, but every so often, like, these things happen. We really, really, really gotta make sure that these things never happen.”
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