A truck driver was critically injured Friday morning when he jumped from his rig and was struck by its trailer just before the vehicle crashed through a barrier and fell off a bridge in Wilmington, Delaware. It happened around 8:30 a.m. on New Bridge Road, where the road crosses Brandywine Creek, according to 6abc. Officials said the 27-year-old driver was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition.
New Castle County Paramedics and the Talleyville Fire Company were called to the scene. They had been dispatched for a large commercial vehicle that went off the roadway after breaking through the bridge’s barrier wall. No other injuries were reported.
Aerial footage from Chopper 6 showed the truck resting in a ditch several feet below the bridge. The Delaware State Police are investigating the crash. The driver’s name was not released.
Authorities released little else about the wreck. Officials gave no update on the driver’s condition beyond critical. No charges or citations had been announced.
How Serious Are Crashes Involving Large Trucks?
The Wilmington wreck is just one of several crashes involving large commercial trucks each year. Nationwide, these types of crashes kill several thousand people annually, according to federal data. Their size and weight make them a lot likier to cause injuries or death than crashes that only involve regular vehicles.
A loaded tractor trailer can weigh tens of thousands of pounds. Bridge barriers are built to keep vehicles from going over the side, so a truck like this breaking through one is pretty uncommon. Wrecks this serious are usually given to state investigators to look into. It’s definitely something that needs to be examined to figure out how it happened in the first place.
What Investigators Haven’t Yet Said
State police haven’t said what caused the truck to break through the barrier wall just yet. They also haven’t disclosed what the commercial vehicle was hauling. Either detail could shape how investigators get to the bottom of the situation. But it’s all up in the air for now.
It was also unclear how long the wreck affected traffic on New Bridge Road. Similarly, there are no details on when the truck was removed from the ditch. Officials hadn’t said at the time when they expected to determine a cause. As of Friday evening, the investigation was ongoing.