Driver dies after truck plummets off Bay Bridge at S-curve

[CreekDog]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

(11-09) 05:00 PST SAN FRANCISCO --

A truck driver died early today after losing control on the Bay Bridge S-curve at high speed and plummeting 200 feet below to Yerba Buena Island, the most serious collision yet since the new detour was installed, the California Highway Patrol said.



The crash happened at about 3:30 a.m. as the truck was traveling at high speed westbound on the span, said CHP Sgt. Trent Cross.

"The commercial vehicle was traveling at high speed when the driver attempted to negotiate the turn," Cross said. "He went off the side of the Bay Bridge and dropped approximately 200 feet down."

The truck smashed into Yerba Buena Island below, spilling gasoline and its cargo of produce over a wide area. The driver, whose name was not immediately released, was pronounced dead.

The two right lanes on the upper deck were closed immediately after the crash. As of 5 a.m., the right-most lane remained closed to allow the CHP to take aerial photos of the scene.

A woman driving in front of the truck told the CHP that she saw "a lot of dust" and that "she thinks it went over the right side of the bridge."

There have been more than 42 crashes in the curved area since it opened Sept. 8, and this morning's crash is the first fatality, authorities said. On Oct. 14, a Safeway big-rig truck flopped across four lanes and crashed, tying up westbound truck for hours. The driver was unfamiliar with the new turn and was going too fast, the CHP said.

Although the speed limit on that stretch of the bridge was lowered from 50 mph to 40 mph, drivers have had difficulty negotiating the relatively sudden curve in the road.

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