
Wrong-Way DUI Driver Sends Big Rig Plummeting Off Interstate 45 Bridge, Trucker Survives
UPDATED: Friday @ 10:15 a.m.
Houston, TX – A trucker amazingly survived a serious crash Friday morning after a collision with a wrong-way passenger vehicle sent his big rig flying off a Houston interstate bridge and plummeting about 30 feet below.
Multiple local outlets report the accident happened around 2:30 a.m. on Friday.
The trucker — whose identity has not been released — was traveling on I-45 southbound when police say a wrong-way driver crashed into the rig head-on.
The semi then slammed into the barrier before falling off the Pierce Elevated (Houston’s name for the elevated stretch of I-45).
The tractor-trailer dropped roughly 30 feet below and landed in the parking lot of the Downtown Aquarium Restaurant, located on Bagby Street.
The 18-wheeler appeared to be almost completely destroyed by the crash.
Video footage from the scene show the male driver on a gurney and being loaded into an ambulance.
He was conscious, wearing a neck brace and could be seen moving.
Local outlet ABC13 reported the driver miraculously sustained only minor injuries, but was transported to an area hospital for observation.
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According to Houston’s First Coast News, the truck was hauling a load of charcoal in a Vanguard trailer.
Investigators suspect the 56-year-old female driver was intoxicated at the time of the crash.
She faces DWI charges.
She incredibly only suffered a broken leg and was transported to a nearby hospital.
As of 7 a.m., the southbound lanes of I-45 remained closed.
HazMat crews were also on-scene to assist with the cleanup.
WATCH raw footage from the scene below:
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