LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Dashcam video of a truck driver’s harrowing journey off of a Louisville bridge has been released to the public.
Sydney Thomas, 26, was driving a semi-truck across the George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge on March 1 when a pickup driver cut her off, causing her to swerve into the opposite lane and through the bridge’s gaurdrails.
The rig dangled over the Ohio River with Thomas inside for a period of time until rescuers could save her.
The pickup driver, 33-year-old Trevor Branham, has been charged in the accident, which also involved three other vehicles. Witnesses told police that Branham was speeding and weaving in and out of traffic when he hit a stalled vehicle, crossed into the opposite lanes, hit another car with two people inside and then hit the tractor-trailer, according to the arrest report.
Thomas’ trailer ended up between the bridge’s girders, balanced on the edge with the cab hanging over the water, and there was constant fear during the rescue that the truck could shift at any moment, Louisville Fire Chief Brian O’Neill said at a press conference after the rescue.
Thomas was unharmed, but three other vehicles were involved and two people were taken to the hospital, Louisville Metro Police have said.
The arrest report said that Branham “drove the vehicle under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, placing himself and other motors at risk for serious physical injury or death.”
Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and raised in East Texas, John Worthen returned to his home state to attend college in 1998 and decided to make his life in The Natural State. Worthen is a 20-year veteran of the journalism industry and has covered just about every topic there is. He has a passion for writing and telling stories. He has worked as a beat reporter and bureau chief for a statewide newspaper and as managing editor of a regional newspaper in Arkansas. Additionally, Worthen has been a prolific freelance journalist for two decades, and has been published in several travel magazines and on travel websites.
