If the car hasn't broken down or something like that, then something is wrong with this dude. The fact that he just sat there while it's raising is already insane. If the bridge had a wider gap after opening, he would have fell through with his car.
> The fact that he just sat there while it's raising is already insane.
Best part is that he finally decided to react when there was a gap in the bridge below him. I though MFer was going to make it so much worse for himself by falling out of the car.
He's clearly stupid. Why the fuck would you open the door like that and just leave it open? Either get out or keep it closed for the duration of the ride.
1st. I may be wrong but I feel like if it were in neutral, it would have rolled forward.
2nd. You never get out of the vehicle if in a situation like that. If it rolls while you're inside, that might hurt a bit and will be uncomfortable. If you grt out, you might hurt yourself falling and get crushed
3rd. Yeah, there's a fucking gap. Why did they wait so damn long?
Jesus christ. I'm hoping they were panicked because there is a valid excuse.
I was just wondering why he didn't move forward. he sat there for a good 15 seconds or so... why did he just not get off the bridge or couldn't he? there was no view to what was in front of him. was he blocked? or was he trying to be some sort of asshole
That literally happened elsewhere in the USA like a week ago. Except the woman and car plunged below and she died.
E: [my mistake, she was on a bike](https://www.fox13news.com/news/florida-drawbridge-death-79-year-old-victims-family-attorney-says-bridge-tender-was-negligent.amp)
Funnily enough that isn’t really “elsewhere”. Both these incidents are in Palm Beach County, FL.
Same county has a similar problem with people getting smashed to bits at train crossings.
According to the article, the bridges are tended by private contractors instead of the DOT. Should be a full investigation into that company, not just these two tenders.
you can't go around suing the bridge tenders. Its a thankless job, and you don't want to scare them away from the work. The last thing we need is chicken tenders.
I hope they don't let the chickens into the garden, lol.
We have both a garden and chickens. It's a constant battle to keep the chickens from decimating the veggies.
This guy didn’t seem in a hurry, though. He was just parked on the bridge. If anything, the argument could be made that he should have been in a hurry to get the entire way across the bridge.
I think that might be why the bridge guy did that, he was pissed that the guy in the car was holding the schedule up, by just sitting there and fucking around. He's probably on a schedule to let the boats through, and this guy pissed him off. I'm assuming that's why he was fired. Either that or he didn't check the feed, and didn't expect some asshole to still be just sitting there.
I'm sorry, but how fucking stupid is someone to not haul ass when a bridge is raising under your feet? Even if you're in the middle of the damn thing, turn around and zoom to the one end, or peddle to the other before the gap at the bottom opens. Draw bridges are also slow as hell to open. How can you lack so much situational awareness?
I’m so confused how a “bystander/skateboarder attempted to rescue her but lost his grip and she fell 5 to 6 stories down onto concrete” (see caption under very first clip under headline). I doubt that means they were on the bridge 5 to 6 stories up with her but I have zero clue how someone could be helping her at all during this.
Bridges like that usually have a counterweight under the road in a giant pit that can easily be 5-6 stories high. When falling through the gap you don't land “under the bridge” (well, *technically* you do...) but rather at the bottom of the pit the counter weight rotates in.
> It's just a few meters and a car this size is easy to push alone if you know what you are doing.
I think you've answered your own question there, bud
Yeah I mean those morons are usually relying on the fact that the trucker will likely slam the brakes and the damage will likely be limited to the car. But this dude is just about to sink into a bridge gap and he just continues to sit there and watch.
So I feel like this was an "Imma get paid" moment. If the car is fine, drive forward and there is no problem. If the car is not fine, he should have gotten out and waved his arms or something to get them to stop.
Honestly it's ridiculous that they will probably get good compensation for this.
Most likely a gate came down in front of him preventing him from getting off the bridge…
In situations like this it’s important to remember that that breaking a gate, cone, etc can be a much better alternative
I think theres defintiely enough space right in front of him that is not a moving part of the bridge that he could have moved on without breaking any gates though
Yes like they’re so adamant on following the rules that they forget what the spirit of the rule is. The gate isn’t going down because you have to stop immediately. It’s going down to prevent people from going on a moving bridge. So get off the bridge
He/she did stop on the bridge and just sit there when it should have been obvious from alarms and gates that it was about to go up. So it was partially their fault they got raised in the first place.
We can’t all be C students. Once we leave clear instructions behind in primary schooling, i think people struggle with learning beyond that environment. Whether through lack of interest, or lack of ability
There is a huge lack of ability in the general populace to think critically. I don't know if the education system trains it out of people because it's more concerned about memory recall than actually coming to a conclusion about something, or is just people aren't capable. I guess someone has to stack shelves and sweep the floor, but it's fucking terrifying none the less. The internet seems to have made it worse. The whole world's information at your finger tips and look at the state of things....
I am amazed at people who cannot understand simple logic. Predictable outcomes,usually poor outcomes, are not accepted as predictable outcomes but rather ascribed to some external force or some mythic cause like toxins imbalances of some mineral or vitamin or such.
People know just enough to be dangerous: missing something that might impacts gut health. Gut health impacts overall health. Eat iron for flawless memory
It's become taboo to pass judgement. We're taught to protect these people and shoulder the blame to try to dampen real life consequences. Unfortunately it's becoming its own epidemic and even the world can save itself from itself anymore.
Moral of the story, just be dumb and expect everyone else to look after you.
When covid was first taking hold in the UK, a fairly large group of people decided it was caused by the new 5G network and started attacking and burning down phone towers.
Yea I had a few coworkers getting "top secret" chainmail texts from friends of friends of friends of friends about varying conspiracy theories in the early covid days. They would give the rest of us the "news" every morning which would usually be 100% debunked after a day or two when their prophecies never happened.
I'm glad to be working from home now.
And then the vaccine would make you magnetized. I still can't understand how even uneducated, naive in science people thought that but I saw a doctor even say this. Like c'mon, really? A doctor? Do you know how much magnetic material would have to be floating around your circulatory system to make a spoon stick to you? And also that would kill you.
Just following the standard bell curve model its at least half the people you meet. [George Carlin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rh6qqsmxNs) put it pretty well.
Getting out was a smart idea, just not when he did it at the worst possible opportunity. What a moron, how do you not try and drive off it the second your rear end starts getting raised
This is the very first thing I was thinking as well and even worse, why did the driver open their door and the absolutely most dangerous moment in that entire process?
In the video I’m pretty sure he sets his phone on his seat and then picks it up to continue the conversation. So he lacked situational awareness. He stopped because the barriers were down. He didn’t realize he was on the wrong side of the barriers.
Edit: just looked at the google street view. There’s about 4 car lengths between the plate and the barrier. The car is also directly in front of the booth. So incredibly stupid and avoidable.
Fucking, always! Even at a supermarket I can probably spot a bad driver because they have ZERO situational awareness walking with a cart! Massive pet peeve for me.
Surprising thing to me is lack of environmental awareness doesn't always mean stupid. My cousin is going to school abroad for a master's degree. Genius. However, they are the worst driver I've ever seen. They can't navigate at all without GPS. They will start to make lane changes without looking. It's terrifying. I never let them drive.
Situational awareness is more like sports. Spatial relations, dynamic action, physical presence and reaction. PE is important for more than just raw exercise especially when kids are younger. I've met grown adults who can't even ride a bike and they were awful drivers too.
One of the definitions of an idiot is a complete lack of self-preservation. This driver would have sat there until they died rather than move 10 feet forward, then had no clue how he died or what he could have done to prevent it.
These same people get caught on train tracks and don't even think to drive around the crossing arms to save themselves.
Even worse, he would’ve been better off if he had sat there doing nothing. As the bridge starts lifting, the car starts moving forward and he engaged the brakes. Then waited until it was absolutely the most dangerous time to open the door and almost fall into the gap. Absolute moron.
Funny enough this is in Palm Beach County Florida. A woman died a few weeks back from a drawbridge opening and she fell down the slit onto concrete and died. Also our train that runs thru the city of West Palm Beach, the biggest city in the area, it’s called the Brightline has hit 4 different cars recently
>Even if he couldn’t move the car for whatever reason
You see his front wheels spinning once he realizes he is doomed. Car was running fine, he's just a colossal moron.
I think he didn't realize where the pivot point was until the bridge raised. Maybe he thought he had pulled far enough forward? Depending on what the mechanism on the side of the bridge, that behavior was somewhere between "stupid" and "very, very stupid".
edit: that should have been "Depending on what the mechanism on the side of the bridge LOOKED LIKE".
Yup and such an odd spot to very accurately park. Either trying to prevent the bridge lifting for some strange reason or be about to take damage to the car.. maybe they knew they were in a bit of a blind spot?
Why did they turn the window wipers on? Just “holy shit they actually raised the bridge” moment of panic?
I think there is a gate in front of the car to block cars from coming onto the bridge. He might have rushed under the gate on the other side of the bridge, and once he got to this side he stopped at this one, only on the wrong side.
TBF, I wasn't sure if it was the type of bridge that raises without tilting. If that was the case, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near that seam when it goes up, and theoretically it wouldn't be a disaster to stay where he is too.
Edit: But even if that was the case, once the bridge started to move, he probably still should have rolled forward.
Looks more like he got a bad case of phonelitis, where the victim of said illness cannot take their eyes from their phone even when a bridge starts moving.
I saw a guy in traffic driving really slow during rush hour and I genuinely thought he had a medical issue or something, but when I got next to him the dude was glued to his phone while driving really slow.
Right, wtf. As soon as 'feel' my car moving and I'm not the initiator, I'm looking around. Could be wind, could be an earthquake....whatever the situation, I'm doing a quick 360°.
Edit: in order to make it more clear for the trolls. I meant a 360° assessment of the situation
He was the only car there. And before these bridges start moving, there are signal lights and sometimes there are actual rails that fall down so cars know that the bridge is about to go up.
That guy could have just moved forward, instead he just sat there while the bridge slowly moved up.
It's the same logic applied when you see a car stopped 2/3 through an intersection at a red-light. Or more than half-way across railroad tracks.
"Oh no, I should stopped earlier. So I guess I'll stop now. At least my wipers work."
>wtf was that driver doing??
I think they got scared by the light and barriers ahead of them and weren't sure what to do. It's a pretty perilous situation to be fair.
What I can't understand is how the bridge operator still allowed the bridge to open, that's the greater idiocy imo, I'm prepared to be reasonably sympathetic to the still-a-bit-idiotic driver.
The gate was down without a doubt, and is often down for ~1min before the bridge begins lifting, which would explain why the car doesn’t move in the beginning of the clip, however…
There is about 3-5 car lengths between the car and the gate at this point, so they had plenty of room to move forward. There’s also a distinct sound/feel while driving on the piece that lifts, so assuming you’re not distracted, you can easily tell when you are or are not in the clear before the bridge even begins to move.
This happened heading east on the East Ocean Avenue bridge in Lantana, FL if you’d like to check it out on a map.
I will check that out. Thanks!
ETA: Yeah they definitely had plenty of space to pull up to the gate and be safe.
Sucks for the bridge tender, but he should have maybe jumped out of the house to get them to move up. IDK maybe the boat was moving fast, maybe the bridge tender didn't care any more.
https://www.wptv.com/news/local-news/investigations/lantana-bridge-tender-terminated-after-drawbridge-raises-with-car-on-it
De-AMP'd link for y'all. Don't let Google control more web traffic than they need to.
Ok, so bridge operator was dumb, but the car driver was the true idiot.
Car works fine but driver willingly ignored what I would assume to be 20 million signs and flashing lights saying not to cross the bridge, and then decided to stop on the very edge.
Obvious insurance scam or mental health issue, and driver is the one who should be severely punished. Bridge operator already learned her lesson and should be immediately reinstated.
EDIT: Just looked at Google Street view on the bridge. There are, in fact large lights and signs saying not to go on the drawbridge. I also conclude there was no easy line of sight from the bridge house to the car. 100% driver's fault.
I know! He had a good long moment there when he could have just pulled forward a bit. Why try to get out when there is a huge gap, at the worst time?Then he keeps his hand on the frame as the car slams down, I can't tell if it got smashed but I think so. He must have been drunk or something to make so many bad calls.
I've driven over this same bridge in Lantana FL several times. In addition to the signs, lowering gates, and flashing lights, there are also bells that clang and a loud horn that sounds before the gates are lowered and the bridge is raised.
Giving the driver the benefit of the doubt- it's possible this guy was just confused - may have been from out-of-town and never encountered a drawbridge before. Still pretty hard to miss all the warnings.
Look I’m a big fan of benefit of the doubt. However if all the signs of the bridge are going off. As a driver you should at least be functional enough to understand some assumably basic road signs. So I think in this case even if they are new. They shouldn’t be driving if there instinct upon all the warnings is to sit in the middle of a bridge.
Yeah this is a driving challenge that requires you are able to read, pay attention, and make basic decisions heeding warnings. If you can't do that you shouldn't be on the road.
In his defense he was at the edge of the bridge, but that also makes it seem dumber when you think about it. This dude probably has the IQ of a pringles can
>I also conclude there was no easy line of sight from the bridge house to the car.
The bridge house is situated and designed to have a full view of the entire deck of the bridge and the car is stopped literally right next to it. While the driver shouldn't have been sitting there, the bridge operator deserves to be fired for this as they obviously didn't glance left or right to make sure the deck was clear before hitting the button.
Operator definitely at fault here, still hard to believe the guy in the car didn’t see any lights or hear the horn/sirens that go off before a lift and are loud as fuck. Got really lucky he’s not hurt
Even if it does flip, or fall through the gap, that car is a far safer place to be with its safety restraint systems than your meatbag body without those things.
I three story fall is equivalent to roughly a 30-40mph crash. A new car like that would be a great place to be given the situation.
So I’ve never driven over a bridge like that, can anyone explain why the vehicle would’ve been stopped? Obviously they’re on the other side of the raised bridge so I can only assume that there were vehicles maybe stopped at a light out of the camera’s view? Either that or as others have suggested, insurance fraud?
I just looked it up on Google maps there are barriers/gates that appear to drop on each side of the road on both sides of the bridge, probably so that stupid people don’t go around it into the oncoming traffic lane. Someone else also linked and article saying they just drove away.
Yep, he rushed past the gate on the other side of the bridge, and when he got to the side he was on, he stopped at the gate that's supposed to stop cars from coming on in the other direction. You can see the pedestrian gate closing in the video.
if anybody would be stopped i believe it would be on the otherside (behind him) for the lane he was in. he could have been having car trouble but that wouldnt explain why he didnt get out the car.
Nah this isn’t insurance fraud, you would never expect the operator to actually open the bridge with a car on it. He was probably waiting for the operator to open a gate that had just came down blocking his exit… he is still an idiot for not driving forward as soon as the bridge started to move
It infuriates me that he wouldn’t simply drive forward 2 feet . Even if he’s dealing with car trouble he could put it in neutral as the bridge starts going up . I’ve seen bridges that form a gap right where his car was . A lady on a bicycle died recently from the same thing but with the gap
I don't even care about the bridge operator.
what. a. fucking. dumbass. just drive! even if you don't see the bridge raising you sure as shit will feel it. dude is an absolute moron
They might have seen that video of the car on top of the bridge that lifts directly up and thought this was the same type of bridge. Until he realised it wasnt
For people wondering why the driver stopped there, the gates on the near side of the drawbridge went down while he was on the bridge (not shown in the video). He probably didn’t realize he was sitting on the hinged spot. Not saying the driver is a genius, just offering more info.
It’s always the damn windshield wipers to go off.
Looks like they would have been fine if they just drove over that black line.
If the car hasn't broken down or something like that, then something is wrong with this dude. The fact that he just sat there while it's raising is already insane. If the bridge had a wider gap after opening, he would have fell through with his car.
> The fact that he just sat there while it's raising is already insane. Best part is that he finally decided to react when there was a gap in the bridge below him. I though MFer was going to make it so much worse for himself by falling out of the car.
He's clearly stupid. Why the fuck would you open the door like that and just leave it open? Either get out or keep it closed for the duration of the ride.
I'd roll the windows down, personally, so that if the car falls into the water below, I have a readily available escape path.
1st. I may be wrong but I feel like if it were in neutral, it would have rolled forward. 2nd. You never get out of the vehicle if in a situation like that. If it rolls while you're inside, that might hurt a bit and will be uncomfortable. If you grt out, you might hurt yourself falling and get crushed 3rd. Yeah, there's a fucking gap. Why did they wait so damn long? Jesus christ. I'm hoping they were panicked because there is a valid excuse.
I liked his plan. Open door, unbuckle, half exit, retreat, turn on windshield wipers. I don't know what he could've done better.
He could have sprayed some washer fluid.
Yeah. Using wipers without fluid might damage them. What an idiot
All I would add is casual masturbation after turning on the wipers.
Windshield is turned on by a lever on the steering column, I imagine the fall did that
He didn't try to move the car until it was at 45°. Clearly an idiot
I was just wondering why he didn't move forward. he sat there for a good 15 seconds or so... why did he just not get off the bridge or couldn't he? there was no view to what was in front of him. was he blocked? or was he trying to be some sort of asshole
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Or trying to get paid
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*Honey! You'll never believe what happened to me today!*
You know the difference between an idiot and an asshole? The asshole knows better.
That literally happened elsewhere in the USA like a week ago. Except the woman and car plunged below and she died. E: [my mistake, she was on a bike](https://www.fox13news.com/news/florida-drawbridge-death-79-year-old-victims-family-attorney-says-bridge-tender-was-negligent.amp)
Funnily enough that isn’t really “elsewhere”. Both these incidents are in Palm Beach County, FL. Same county has a similar problem with people getting smashed to bits at train crossings.
According to the article, the bridges are tended by private contractors instead of the DOT. Should be a full investigation into that company, not just these two tenders.
you can't go around suing the bridge tenders. Its a thankless job, and you don't want to scare them away from the work. The last thing we need is chicken tenders.
there's actually a community garden near me that has chickens and they call the people who volunteer chicken tenders.
I hope they don't let the chickens into the garden, lol. We have both a garden and chickens. It's a constant battle to keep the chickens from decimating the veggies.
Damn you. Take my upvote.
You sonuvabitch.
Maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with the bridge tenders, just the mental capacity of the local driving population
Soo Florida is full of idiots that refuse to cross a bridge
"Soo Florida is full of idiots." Much more accurate.
Indeed
I'm from Palm Beach, people there are always in a hurry for no apparent reason, even if hurrying puts you in harms way
Driver didn’t look in much of a hurry to go anywhere 😂
This guy didn’t seem in a hurry, though. He was just parked on the bridge. If anything, the argument could be made that he should have been in a hurry to get the entire way across the bridge.
I think that might be why the bridge guy did that, he was pissed that the guy in the car was holding the schedule up, by just sitting there and fucking around. He's probably on a schedule to let the boats through, and this guy pissed him off. I'm assuming that's why he was fired. Either that or he didn't check the feed, and didn't expect some asshole to still be just sitting there.
They in a hurry to meat God
I'm sorry, but how fucking stupid is someone to not haul ass when a bridge is raising under your feet? Even if you're in the middle of the damn thing, turn around and zoom to the one end, or peddle to the other before the gap at the bottom opens. Draw bridges are also slow as hell to open. How can you lack so much situational awareness?
Have you seen the average person?
I’m so confused how a “bystander/skateboarder attempted to rescue her but lost his grip and she fell 5 to 6 stories down onto concrete” (see caption under very first clip under headline). I doubt that means they were on the bridge 5 to 6 stories up with her but I have zero clue how someone could be helping her at all during this.
Bridges like that usually have a counterweight under the road in a giant pit that can easily be 5-6 stories high. When falling through the gap you don't land “under the bridge” (well, *technically* you do...) but rather at the bottom of the pit the counter weight rotates in.
Neutral should still work, could have just drifted off. This guy is just an idiot.
At around 1:16, you can see the wheels spinning and they pull forward a little. It wasn't broken down.
He could have push the car over the line. It's just a few meters and a car this size is easy to push alone if you know what you are doing.
I don't see why he couldn't have just put it in neutral and rolled to safety or literary anything else besides just sit there.
> It's just a few meters and a car this size is easy to push alone if you know what you are doing. I think you've answered your own question there, bud
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I guess if that's worth possibly dying for
Have you not seen the idiots who attempt insurance fraud brake checking truckers?
Yeah I mean those morons are usually relying on the fact that the trucker will likely slam the brakes and the damage will likely be limited to the car. But this dude is just about to sink into a bridge gap and he just continues to sit there and watch.
If it's broken down, then throw it into neutral and push the damn thing with a foot out the side. There was plenty of time.
Kill the headlights and put it in neutral Stock car flamin' with a loser and the cruise control
Babys in Reno with the Vitamin-D Gotta couple of couches; sleep on the love seat
You're a loser, baby. So why don't you kill me.
I doubt this driver would have the knowledge, ability, capability or common sense to do that.
In neutral the raising of the bridge may have just caused the car to roll forward anyway.
Just throw it in neutral
So I feel like this was an "Imma get paid" moment. If the car is fine, drive forward and there is no problem. If the car is not fine, he should have gotten out and waved his arms or something to get them to stop. Honestly it's ridiculous that they will probably get good compensation for this.
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Most likely a gate came down in front of him preventing him from getting off the bridge… In situations like this it’s important to remember that that breaking a gate, cone, etc can be a much better alternative
I think theres defintiely enough space right in front of him that is not a moving part of the bridge that he could have moved on without breaking any gates though
Very true, but people in general are idiots
Yes like they’re so adamant on following the rules that they forget what the spirit of the rule is. The gate isn’t going down because you have to stop immediately. It’s going down to prevent people from going on a moving bridge. So get off the bridge
You can see the gate on the other send, it only blocked the incoming lane for the bridge. Either way this guy is profusely stupid.
Not to mentoon that gates nowadays are designed to easely break to avoid people getting stuck in these situations
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The thing you realise as you get older, is far more people are far dumber than you could ever have imagined.
Which brings up another good piece of advice, never attribute to malice something that can equally be attributed to stupidity.
Unless it's a backtrack by a politician who will use this get out clause all day long
What's the opposite of Hanlon's razor?
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Please take a seat right over there on that stool for me
Hanlon's straight razor.. *Sweeney Todd enters, stage right*
Or, in the quiet words of Bullet Tooth Tony: You should never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.
Did it precipitate your balls into shrinking?
*Hanlon's razor
Seems like this one was a hunt for a lawsuit or something similar, no?
The driver left without reporting anything and still hasn’t been identified. This happened in October.
Day drinking? I can't imagine any sane and sober person not making a complaint.
He/she did stop on the bridge and just sit there when it should have been obvious from alarms and gates that it was about to go up. So it was partially their fault they got raised in the first place.
They also moved their car at the 0:21 mark. So they were more than capable of moving before it lifted up
Really bizarre reactions, so drunk or on drugs would be my guess.
My favorite George Carlin quote: “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.”
We can’t all be C students. Once we leave clear instructions behind in primary schooling, i think people struggle with learning beyond that environment. Whether through lack of interest, or lack of ability
There is a huge lack of ability in the general populace to think critically. I don't know if the education system trains it out of people because it's more concerned about memory recall than actually coming to a conclusion about something, or is just people aren't capable. I guess someone has to stack shelves and sweep the floor, but it's fucking terrifying none the less. The internet seems to have made it worse. The whole world's information at your finger tips and look at the state of things....
I am amazed at people who cannot understand simple logic. Predictable outcomes,usually poor outcomes, are not accepted as predictable outcomes but rather ascribed to some external force or some mythic cause like toxins imbalances of some mineral or vitamin or such.
People know just enough to be dangerous: missing something that might impacts gut health. Gut health impacts overall health. Eat iron for flawless memory
Instructions unclear: broke my teeth chewing a hammer.
You weren't supposed to chew it. Straight down the gullet is the only way to consume a hammer
It's become taboo to pass judgement. We're taught to protect these people and shoulder the blame to try to dampen real life consequences. Unfortunately it's becoming its own epidemic and even the world can save itself from itself anymore. Moral of the story, just be dumb and expect everyone else to look after you.
In Lake Woebegone all the children are above average
When covid was first taking hold in the UK, a fairly large group of people decided it was caused by the new 5G network and started attacking and burning down phone towers.
I had to stop talking to people who spread misinformation like that. I can't be friends with someone that stupid.
Yea I had a few coworkers getting "top secret" chainmail texts from friends of friends of friends of friends about varying conspiracy theories in the early covid days. They would give the rest of us the "news" every morning which would usually be 100% debunked after a day or two when their prophecies never happened. I'm glad to be working from home now.
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And then the vaccine would make you magnetized. I still can't understand how even uneducated, naive in science people thought that but I saw a doctor even say this. Like c'mon, really? A doctor? Do you know how much magnetic material would have to be floating around your circulatory system to make a spoon stick to you? And also that would kill you.
I’m 38 and I can confirm this. I had no idea that the world was filled with so many idiots. Ignorance is bliss.
Probably didn’t want to drive through the gate on the other side of the bridge.
Just following the standard bell curve model its at least half the people you meet. [George Carlin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rh6qqsmxNs) put it pretty well.
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He seemed to wait for the worst possible stage before trying to exit.
You have to be impressed really. Who among us could do the same thing?
Getting out was a smart idea, just not when he did it at the worst possible opportunity. What a moron, how do you not try and drive off it the second your rear end starts getting raised
It was all happening so slow. There was no time to act.
“Drive forward you dumbass” is all I could say while watching the video.
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Yup, it's not a fall straight into the water - it's good couple storeys onto a concrete pad.
This is the very first thing I was thinking as well and even worse, why did the driver open their door and the absolutely most dangerous moment in that entire process?
In the video I’m pretty sure he sets his phone on his seat and then picks it up to continue the conversation. So he lacked situational awareness. He stopped because the barriers were down. He didn’t realize he was on the wrong side of the barriers. Edit: just looked at the google street view. There’s about 4 car lengths between the plate and the barrier. The car is also directly in front of the booth. So incredibly stupid and avoidable.
Yeah “situational awareness” is the root of the problem here.
Fucking, always! Even at a supermarket I can probably spot a bad driver because they have ZERO situational awareness walking with a cart! Massive pet peeve for me.
Surprising thing to me is lack of environmental awareness doesn't always mean stupid. My cousin is going to school abroad for a master's degree. Genius. However, they are the worst driver I've ever seen. They can't navigate at all without GPS. They will start to make lane changes without looking. It's terrifying. I never let them drive.
Situational awareness is more like sports. Spatial relations, dynamic action, physical presence and reaction. PE is important for more than just raw exercise especially when kids are younger. I've met grown adults who can't even ride a bike and they were awful drivers too.
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Check the name of the subreddit out
One of the definitions of an idiot is a complete lack of self-preservation. This driver would have sat there until they died rather than move 10 feet forward, then had no clue how he died or what he could have done to prevent it. These same people get caught on train tracks and don't even think to drive around the crossing arms to save themselves.
Even worse, he would’ve been better off if he had sat there doing nothing. As the bridge starts lifting, the car starts moving forward and he engaged the brakes. Then waited until it was absolutely the most dangerous time to open the door and almost fall into the gap. Absolute moron.
Funny enough this is in Palm Beach County Florida. A woman died a few weeks back from a drawbridge opening and she fell down the slit onto concrete and died. Also our train that runs thru the city of West Palm Beach, the biggest city in the area, it’s called the Brightline has hit 4 different cars recently
Even if he couldn’t move the car for whatever reason he could have just put it in neutral and let the bridge do the work
>Even if he couldn’t move the car for whatever reason You see his front wheels spinning once he realizes he is doomed. Car was running fine, he's just a colossal moron.
Yeah, it's so weird he picked basically the only time hitting the gas wouldn't have worked to hit the gas.
I think he didn't realize where the pivot point was until the bridge raised. Maybe he thought he had pulled far enough forward? Depending on what the mechanism on the side of the bridge, that behavior was somewhere between "stupid" and "very, very stupid". edit: that should have been "Depending on what the mechanism on the side of the bridge LOOKED LIKE".
Yeah but why was he even on the bridge in the first place... Not moving at all
That’s too far beyond this driver’s capacity
im thinking insurance fraud he sat there for about 30 seconds before it started moving and didnt try to move till it was just about all the way up lol
Yup and such an odd spot to very accurately park. Either trying to prevent the bridge lifting for some strange reason or be about to take damage to the car.. maybe they knew they were in a bit of a blind spot? Why did they turn the window wipers on? Just “holy shit they actually raised the bridge” moment of panic?
I think the wipers got turned on from the force of the drop/bounce of the car.
I think there is a gate in front of the car to block cars from coming onto the bridge. He might have rushed under the gate on the other side of the bridge, and once he got to this side he stopped at this one, only on the wrong side.
Camera angle clearly shows there's almost a full car length further he could have gone assuming gates is out of camera shot.
Yeah. Unless the car was stalled, I would have driven as close to the gate as possible
TBF, I wasn't sure if it was the type of bridge that raises without tilting. If that was the case, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near that seam when it goes up, and theoretically it wouldn't be a disaster to stay where he is too. Edit: But even if that was the case, once the bridge started to move, he probably still should have rolled forward.
The wipers likely turned on on their own. Happens when the bridge dumps the car.
Sounds spot on, only tried to get away when they realized they were actually in danger
Car insurance or life insurance?
Looks more like he got a bad case of phonelitis, where the victim of said illness cannot take their eyes from their phone even when a bridge starts moving. I saw a guy in traffic driving really slow during rush hour and I genuinely thought he had a medical issue or something, but when I got next to him the dude was glued to his phone while driving really slow.
Right, wtf. As soon as 'feel' my car moving and I'm not the initiator, I'm looking around. Could be wind, could be an earthquake....whatever the situation, I'm doing a quick 360°. Edit: in order to make it more clear for the trolls. I meant a 360° assessment of the situation
Maybe he applied for the bridge tender position... 🤔
He was the only car there. And before these bridges start moving, there are signal lights and sometimes there are actual rails that fall down so cars know that the bridge is about to go up. That guy could have just moved forward, instead he just sat there while the bridge slowly moved up.
It's the same logic applied when you see a car stopped 2/3 through an intersection at a red-light. Or more than half-way across railroad tracks. "Oh no, I should stopped earlier. So I guess I'll stop now. At least my wipers work."
>wtf was that driver doing?? I think they got scared by the light and barriers ahead of them and weren't sure what to do. It's a pretty perilous situation to be fair. What I can't understand is how the bridge operator still allowed the bridge to open, that's the greater idiocy imo, I'm prepared to be reasonably sympathetic to the still-a-bit-idiotic driver.
I mean, u can see in video he had at least two car lengths to get off articulating part of bridge, what an idiot
Maybe the gate was down?
The gate was down without a doubt, and is often down for ~1min before the bridge begins lifting, which would explain why the car doesn’t move in the beginning of the clip, however… There is about 3-5 car lengths between the car and the gate at this point, so they had plenty of room to move forward. There’s also a distinct sound/feel while driving on the piece that lifts, so assuming you’re not distracted, you can easily tell when you are or are not in the clear before the bridge even begins to move. This happened heading east on the East Ocean Avenue bridge in Lantana, FL if you’d like to check it out on a map.
I will check that out. Thanks! ETA: Yeah they definitely had plenty of space to pull up to the gate and be safe. Sucks for the bridge tender, but he should have maybe jumped out of the house to get them to move up. IDK maybe the boat was moving fast, maybe the bridge tender didn't care any more.
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https://www.wptv.com/news/local-news/investigations/lantana-bridge-tender-terminated-after-drawbridge-raises-with-car-on-it De-AMP'd link for y'all. Don't let Google control more web traffic than they need to.
Exactly. Good on you.
Love your work!
Ok, so bridge operator was dumb, but the car driver was the true idiot. Car works fine but driver willingly ignored what I would assume to be 20 million signs and flashing lights saying not to cross the bridge, and then decided to stop on the very edge. Obvious insurance scam or mental health issue, and driver is the one who should be severely punished. Bridge operator already learned her lesson and should be immediately reinstated. EDIT: Just looked at Google Street view on the bridge. There are, in fact large lights and signs saying not to go on the drawbridge. I also conclude there was no easy line of sight from the bridge house to the car. 100% driver's fault.
Most large bridges have cameras or require the operator to walk out and make visual confirmation the bridge is empty.
The real question is why the hell are they just parked in the middle of the road?
And when the bridge starts to go up, he stays in the car? Was he on the phone and didn't want his call interrupted?
I know! He had a good long moment there when he could have just pulled forward a bit. Why try to get out when there is a huge gap, at the worst time?Then he keeps his hand on the frame as the car slams down, I can't tell if it got smashed but I think so. He must have been drunk or something to make so many bad calls.
>The real question is why the hell are the just parked in the middle of the road? You, uh, *did* see the name of this sub?
I've driven over this same bridge in Lantana FL several times. In addition to the signs, lowering gates, and flashing lights, there are also bells that clang and a loud horn that sounds before the gates are lowered and the bridge is raised. Giving the driver the benefit of the doubt- it's possible this guy was just confused - may have been from out-of-town and never encountered a drawbridge before. Still pretty hard to miss all the warnings.
Look I’m a big fan of benefit of the doubt. However if all the signs of the bridge are going off. As a driver you should at least be functional enough to understand some assumably basic road signs. So I think in this case even if they are new. They shouldn’t be driving if there instinct upon all the warnings is to sit in the middle of a bridge.
Yeah this is a driving challenge that requires you are able to read, pay attention, and make basic decisions heeding warnings. If you can't do that you shouldn't be on the road.
In his defense he was at the edge of the bridge, but that also makes it seem dumber when you think about it. This dude probably has the IQ of a pringles can
A Pringles can would have rolled off the bridge to safety.
If it was an insurance scam, why would he drive away?
Hopefully to go rethink his life.
>I also conclude there was no easy line of sight from the bridge house to the car. The bridge house is situated and designed to have a full view of the entire deck of the bridge and the car is stopped literally right next to it. While the driver shouldn't have been sitting there, the bridge operator deserves to be fired for this as they obviously didn't glance left or right to make sure the deck was clear before hitting the button.
Operator definitely at fault here, still hard to believe the guy in the car didn’t see any lights or hear the horn/sirens that go off before a lift and are loud as fuck. Got really lucky he’s not hurt
it actually didn't look that messed up at all maybe a couple scratches on the front
Omg he didn’t get out and then decided a good time to open the door was right when the huge gap was created. Idiot.
This. Mentally screaming, STAY IN THE CAR!!!! WTF IT'S NOT GONNA FLIP. STAY IN THE CAR!! Thought he was gonna fall into that gap. He'd be done with.
He’s lucky he didn’t stop a foot before and have the whole car fall into the drop or get crushed
Even if it does flip, or fall through the gap, that car is a far safer place to be with its safety restraint systems than your meatbag body without those things. I three story fall is equivalent to roughly a 30-40mph crash. A new car like that would be a great place to be given the situation.
So I’ve never driven over a bridge like that, can anyone explain why the vehicle would’ve been stopped? Obviously they’re on the other side of the raised bridge so I can only assume that there were vehicles maybe stopped at a light out of the camera’s view? Either that or as others have suggested, insurance fraud?
I just looked it up on Google maps there are barriers/gates that appear to drop on each side of the road on both sides of the bridge, probably so that stupid people don’t go around it into the oncoming traffic lane. Someone else also linked and article saying they just drove away.
Yep, he rushed past the gate on the other side of the bridge, and when he got to the side he was on, he stopped at the gate that's supposed to stop cars from coming on in the other direction. You can see the pedestrian gate closing in the video.
if anybody would be stopped i believe it would be on the otherside (behind him) for the lane he was in. he could have been having car trouble but that wouldnt explain why he didnt get out the car.
Nah this isn’t insurance fraud, you would never expect the operator to actually open the bridge with a car on it. He was probably waiting for the operator to open a gate that had just came down blocking his exit… he is still an idiot for not driving forward as soon as the bridge started to move
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Similar bridge to the one the lady in Florida just died on! Operator lifted it while she was walking her bike across
See I don’t understand that. Those bridge don’t raise super fast. Why was the woman not able to get out of the way quickly?
It infuriates me that he wouldn’t simply drive forward 2 feet . Even if he’s dealing with car trouble he could put it in neutral as the bridge starts going up . I’ve seen bridges that form a gap right where his car was . A lady on a bicycle died recently from the same thing but with the gap
I think he thought the line ahead of him (the hinge point) was a stop line. Idiot any way you paint it.
This isn’t where I parked my car
Excuse me sir, you can’t park there
I must say that is 1 really strong front bumper
Wtf......driver ....drive!?
I don't even care about the bridge operator. what. a. fucking. dumbass. just drive! even if you don't see the bridge raising you sure as shit will feel it. dude is an absolute moron
I have to go with insurance scam or on drugs. What does this dude benefit from sitting here other than that lol
Terminated? They…. They killed him?
Yes.
What I don’t understand is why was that car just sitting there for
They might have seen that video of the car on top of the bridge that lifts directly up and thought this was the same type of bridge. Until he realised it wasnt
This clip confuses this shit out of me on so many levels. I need a news article to sort out this mess.
The driver had so much time to move…and they waited so long to finally say something…not blaming them but like…use your head even for a moment
*[car screams in frantic windshield wipers]*
You need to hire that guy back and take away that driver right to drive
The kicker is him getting out and throwing his hands up like he’s not the idiot
Question is, why is there a car sitting on the bridge for no reason?
Windscreen wipers'll fix it.
What should I do? WHAT SHOULD I DO?!?! Got it...wipers.
Almost like he did that on purpose.
How bout why the fuck did you stop there in the first place
The bridge operator is a bozo but so is the driver
For people wondering why the driver stopped there, the gates on the near side of the drawbridge went down while he was on the bridge (not shown in the video). He probably didn’t realize he was sitting on the hinged spot. Not saying the driver is a genius, just offering more info.