Monday, Nov. 09, 2009

Big-rig plummets off San Francisco bridge

SAN FRANCISCO -- A trucker is dead after his big rig plummeted 200 feet off the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge early Monday and smashed onto an island below.

California Highway Patrol Sgt. Trent Cross says the driver of a rig hauling produce lost control on the westbound bridge's troublesome S-curve at about 3:30 a.m. The rig went over the side and landed on Yerba Buena Island.

The trucker died on impact.

There have been more than 42 crashes in the bridge's S-curve area since it opened Sept. 8. Cross says speed is the cause.

The speed limit was lowered from 50 to 40 mph. Flashing lights warn drivers of the sudden curve ahead.

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