JACKSONVILLE, Fla — A young woman is back on dry land Tuesday after the Florida Highway Patrol says she crashed her car off the Buckman Bridge and into the St. Johns RIver.
Troopers say the crash happened around 1 a.m. Tuesday morning. Her vehicle landed in the river, however, the woman was able to escape with only minor injuries.
The scene was cleared by 5 a.m.
FHP says the woman was driving northbound in the median on the southbound side when she hit the guardrail and went off the bridge.
Video from the scene shows first responders leaning over the rail of the bridge with what appears to be a crane. First Coast News video shows the same group around the car that was pulled out of the water.
FHP says the car wasn’t fully submerged in water, and that a Good Samaritan helped the woman back to shore.
Crashes like this have happened before and ended a lot worse. Back in 2015, there was a study done after a deadly crash when a truck went over the side of the Buckman bridge.
It was one of two vehicles that went off the side of the bridge during the five years studied by Florida Department of Transportation.
The study found the bridge railing meets the national and state standard for crash worthiness. No research suggests raising the railing would eliminate the chance of someone going off the side of the bridge.
FDOT says safety could be improved if drivers stop speeding. FHP’s report does not say if speed was a factor in this case.
We have also reached out to FHP to see if they are investigating whether the driver was impaired.