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.

Rock Chuck ,

howdy .
That bridge gets quite a bit of action .

Anybody have any musical talent make a John Anderson remix- Hanging on the bridge “Just A Swingin.” Y’all can fill in the rest of the remix.

Where's Batman when you need him ?

The next time any of you travel that portion of 84, follow the signs to Malad Gorge State park and walk out on the walking bridge.
It will only delay your trip a few minutes and is worth the time taken.
You'll never be sorry.

https://stateparks.com/malad_gorge_state_park_in_idaho.html

Hard to tell just from that pic (and I didn't read the whole article so this may be covered) but the grill looks to be resting on a rock ledge. If so the safety chains wouldn't be holding that entire pickup's weight.

I chukar hunt a lot not too awful far from that bridge. It isn't too long as the Malad River Gorge isn't real wide so you're past it quickly at 75 MPH. Still a scary deal and "no" to AcesNeights and AZMark...I believe the incident you're referring to was on the Salmon River Dam, about 40 miles south of the Malad River Gorge.

Rock chuck, is the bad bump on the east or west bound lanes or both? My wife and I will be heading west across that bridge in a couple weeks, each driving separate vehicles and each pulling trailers.

Yeah, make sure to be prepared with a repelling rope or parachute, you never know when you will need it.

The TV clip from Boise had clear view of the side of the pickup. Looked, like a 3/4 ton crew cab with a tall lift kit and big tires. That plus high freeway speeds and a bump can start a violent trailer sway.

It's on the west end of both sides. I think it's worse westbound. With soft springs it won't seem bad but in my Dodge 3/4 ton, it's a good hit.

That's the camera angle. It's a ways out from the rocks.

The news said they were a 67 & 64 yo couple from Garden City UT (Bear Lake). It didn't mention the bump but did say they started to sway and lost control. The semi driver that nosed in and chained to them deserves a free dinner.

These canyons around here have been busy this spring. There's this one. A month or so ago we talked about the guy who went off the Salmon Falls Dam south of here. Then last week, a young woman committed suicide by driving over the edge right next to the Sportsmans Warehouse in Twin Falls (there's a mall built on the canyon rim). She'd been missing for a while and was screwed up in the head.

It is possible that a wind gust up the canyon caught them. The bridge has high sides to help that but it's not a cure all. I'll still bet on the bump.
I couldn't tell from any of the pics if he had an equalizer hitch or sway bars. That might have saved him.

Always nice to have tow truck following behind.............sounded like that guy got a hook on the truck pretty quickly to help keep it in place. Don't know if they were lucky or unlucky as the gorge is only ~75yards wide where they went over. Little further and they would have been in the median. Hell of a ride for sure.

Did anybody notice the ISP spokesman was officer Hightower? LOL.

Going over that bridge in a couple weeks when I get to go to Podunk Utah and visit with Mr. Tikkanut. Do a little desert riding.

Having a trailer start to whip gives an instant pucker factor, seeing the bowels of hell as you jumped the rail would test ones heart. I still say the dude hauling the terragator that chained up to hold them deserves a free meal, as well as the guy that crawled over to put the chain on.

It wasn't the tow truck. It was the driver of that green semi with the fertilizer spreader on the trailer.

The weak spot on most receiver hitches is the chain loops. The ones on either of my hitches aren't nearly strong enough to handle something like they. I'm sure they would have broken.

Thinking about changing out the S hooks on the trailer for 1/2 inch hardened steel quick link repair shackles.

I have 5/16 spring gate hooks on my horse trailers. I would hope those folks didn’t have those chickenshit S hooks for that 30’ trailer!

That's what I get for listening to KMVT. lol

We stopped at the park, had a nice lunch and walked out onto the foot bridge. It was indeed a worthy stop and quite enjoyable. I saw a quail, spotted towhee, rockchuck and heard a Western Meadowlark and smelled the sage. I have missed the west! Nice to be back.

By next month the water will be considerably higher. It won't be record breaking by any means but it'll be churning down there.

They should have had a couple umberellas they could hook through the dogs collars and pitched them out to safely float down.

So how many hours were both lanes blocked. Should ha retrieved the folks and dogs and cut the truck loose. Sheesh.

Maybe build guard rails 2 freaking inches higher next time. Mexican engineers.

Back to this bridge. I had a minor encounter with it this weekend. Dodge 2500, towing a light trailer, maybe 2000lb. I know about the bridge, of course, so I'd slowed down to about 65. I was westbound, not EB like the guy in the OP but the bumps are on both ends. It educated me to the fact that I have something wrong, like a bad track bar or maybe ball joints. It threw me into a wild shimmy. I got it to stop when I got down to about 50. All the tie rod ends are fairly new, like under 5000 miles, so the problem isn't likely to be there. It could be the steering stabilizer but I think it shimmied too much to be that. I'll call the shop for an appointment as soon as they open this morning.

As we migrate back north this week, we will be crossing this same bridge. Been across it many, many times.

Bridge approaches can typically be leveled out with grout or foam jacking, if the approach slab doesn't have bars that are cast integral to the end bent (bridge abutment). I've seen designs where this is the case and you either have to wedge the approach with asphalt or some sort of overlay or you can cut the bars and jack, which the latter we have never done. Usually if the approach rides bad enough you will see black marks where the trailer tires lift off and scrub. Amzaing that those chains held. I'm betting the DOT is fully aware if they have an issue now!

I was gonna say it looks like there are no wheels or tires, but I brightened my screen and saw the whole rear axle is out on the drivers side stretching from the wheel well towards the bridge railing..
I wonder what is holding that?

Saw the pic and first thought as damn those brakes are strong.

I bet they was cshittin white blackbirds!