07-03-2008
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Porter, IN
Posts: 4,440
Rep Power: 8
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Another Darwin Award Winner
This dude tried to cross a draw bridge as it was opening.
from Boatnerd.com
Driver escapes injury after attempting to jump Homer Bridge 7/3 - St. Catharines - A St. Catharines driver tried to jump the Homer Bridge Tuesday while it was being raised, police say.
When the driver realized the attempt was failing, he escaped from the car before it plunged into the Welland Canal. The canal was closed for several hours so the Buick LeSabre could be fished from the shipping lane. Police said the driver was not injured, but “unhelpful with respect to how his vehicle ended up in the water.”
Officers were called to the bridge just after 7 a.m. by a witness who saw the car fall into the water between Locks 2 and 3. After interviewing witnesses, police said they believe the driver was speeding east on Queenston Street towards the Homer Bridge. At the same time, the bridge was being raised to allow a freighter to travel through the canal.
Police said witnesses saw the Buick accelerate rapidly, despite a warning siren, red warning lights and the raising bridge. It crashed through the warning gate and sped up on the bridge.
As the bridge continued to rise, police said “gravity took over” and the vehicle stopped, then started to slide backwards. The driver jumped out of the car as it rolled down the bridge, through a gap in the canal wall and into the water. The retrieved car had a smashed front window and its back end was dented.
Police said the closure of the canal was a significant expense for the Seaway and maritime traffic.
Phillip Boucher, 45, of St. Catharines has been charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle. He’s scheduled to make his first court appearance Aug. 29.
The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. said it will cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars to replace a bridge warning gate that a driver crashed through on Canada Day.
But it says the real cost was to the Queenston Street drivers trying to cross the Homer Bridge, which was closed for hours Tuesday. “The greatest inconvenience was to the general public,” said Seaway spokesperson Andrew Bogora
From the St. Catharines Standard
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If a man is to be obsessed by something, I suppose a boat is as good as anything, perhaps a bit better than most - E.B. White
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