Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire This would make you pucker your lower cheeks

This pickup went off an I-84 bridge in southern ID yesterday. It's hanging about 100' above the rocks with 2 people inside...and suspended by nothing but a pair of camp trailer safety chains. Do you still think those 3/16" chains you have on your camper are strong enough?

I've often questioned whether hooks and chains like this are adequate in a major crash.

Was the driver male, occupant female? Asking for a friend.

Wow............Is that the same bridge that a man and his son went over a year or two ago?

Nothing's been released yet other than both people and 2 small dogs have only minor injuries. Here's the text of the article:

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Authorities say a set of camp trailer safety chains and quick, careful work by emergency crews saved two people after their pickup truck plunged off a bridge, leaving them dangling above a deep gorge in southern Idaho.

Idaho State Police responded to the accident at about 2:45 p.m. Monday, said ISP spokeswoman Lynn Hightower. A trooper found a man and a woman inside the pickup truck that was dangling, nose-down, off the side of the bridge spanning the Malad Gorge. The gorge is narrow but is roughly 100 feet deep below the bridge, roughly the height of a 10-story building. The gorge reaches about 250 feet deep at its deepest point.

The only thing keeping the 2004 Ford F-305 pickup from falling was the set of "safety chains" attaching the 30-foot camper trailer, which remained on the bridge, to the pickup. A state trooper and local sheriff's deputy first used an additional set of chains from a nearby semi-truck to help support the dangling pickup truck, holding it in place until additional rescuers with cranes, rope rescue gear and other equipment could arrive.

Emergency crews were then able to rappel down to the hanging truck and attach a harness to each occupant, allowing them to be safely carried back to the bridge. Both were taken to hospitals, and neither appeared to have life-threatening injuries, Hightower said. Two small dogs inside the pickup were also safely rescued, and taken to the home of a nearby family member.

Workers were still attempting to pull the pickup from the precipice Monday evening.

"It was terrifying," Hightower said. "It was definitely a heroic rescue from everybody that was out there, and thankfully, they're all fine."

Witnesses said the truck appeared to lose control before the crash, first swerving to hit the right shoulder barrier before sliding over the left-side guardrail. The truck then tipped over the bridge, with the camper blocking both lanes of the bridge.

The case remains under investigation, Hightower said. Agencies from Gooding, Jerome and Twin Falls responded to the incident, along with regional sheriff's offices and fire department and paramedic services.

"A rescue like this takes a lot of quick thinking and action but this is what they train for," she said. "That training just paid off today, and two people are alive because of the hours and hours of training that these emergency responders do."

I know that bridge very well. I can tell by the shadows that this is the westbound side of the freeway. As you hit the bridge, you hit a big bump that should have been repaired long ago before something like this happened. I'm betting that he hit the bump and the trailer started to sway. I've been tossed by it a couple times just in the last year, luckily never pulling a large trailer.

Wow! I can’t imagine many if any scarier situations than that.

That just proves why you should always carry a 100' rappelling rope in the cab. The man and woman could have rappelled out and not worried about rescue. Don't know about the pooches, though.

L.W.

I'm guessing the "minor injuries" were sustained by the impaction of the seat cushions as a result of the pucker factor.

Rock Chuck: I have been over that bridge several times in the last 40 years or so. And you answered my question which was "how on earth did that happen"?
The approaches to the bridge, as I recall, are straight and minus another vehicles involvement I see no explanation other than yours.
Thanks and hopefully that situation (bumpy approach) get fixed soon.
Those folks are/were LUCKY!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

There would be no salvaging my boxers after that.

North side of EB I-84. That footbridge in the upper right corner is directly south of the highway in Malad Gorge state park. That would be scary as hell looking at a 80' drop through your windshield knowing you're only being held by your safety chains!

When the hitch on my 20 foot boat trailer broke the 5/16 S hooks straightened out right now, Luckly I was only going 10mph and the spare tire hit the road before the trailer tongue. I use shackles now.The tongue weight was only 125lbs.

Mike

I think that exact situation would be my worst nightmare! I can’t imagine a more helpless feeling than dangling from a chain. The worst part of it all would be having my loved one sitting next to me and me being unable to do anything to help them.

I’ve often thought about the father and son that died when their truck went over on the bridge that crossed the dam. I spend a fair amount of time on logging roads, fire trails and other miscellaneous narrow dangerous roads without guardrails. The drop on those roads can be 50’ or a 1,000 feet straight down. A couple of times I had my wife get out and walk alongside the truck while I carefully descended, with my door cracked just in case I needed to bail.

I suppose the pucker factor is increased because of my mountain adventure when I was 16. I’d just got my new (to me) F150 and my buddies and I decided to go up in the mountains shooting. I came around a corner near the top of the mountain when I met up with a fully loaded Mac logging truck. I gunned it and aimed for the mountain since the other edge was a 100+ foot drop. The Mac hit me right behind the drivers door and pushed me towards the side of the road opposite the drop off. We were extremely lucky that it worked out the way it did or else my legacy would’ve been that I accidentally killed my best friends as well as myself.

Last year I swapped out the old safety chains on my boat trailer for a heavier set with new bolts and hardware. It’s cheap insurance and gives me a little piece of mind.

Thank God those people were saved by their safety chains......was this the same bridge that claimed the lives of the father and son?

I suspect that most people who live in the Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana area near there has been over that bridge and gulped at how scary that crevice is. That crack in an ancient lava bed looks like it goes right to the center of the earth.

If that sliding rear window still worked, I'd a been up on that bridge before you could say safety chain.

Actually, you can't see the gorge while crossing the bridge unless you're in a big truck. The side rails are too high.

Now that I can see a better photo, they were in the EB lane, not the WB like I'd thought. This photo is the Devil's Punch Bowl which was right under them. That bump I mentioned is a big one. I can fully understand him losing control when they hit it, and there's no way to avoid it even if you know it's there. I usually slow down before I cross. Maybe this will induce the state to finally get fixed.

Bet there's dog schit all over the inside of the windshield.

That is so scary. That first deputy who went down and attached the first additional chain has got some guts.