METAIRIE, La. (WGNO) –– A crash involving two pickup trucks forced the closure of the Causeway bridge Monday morning when one of the trucks left the roadway and landed in Lake Pontchartrain.
One of the first drivers to stop and help at the scene was Michael O’Neal.
“We were about six cars back,” O’Neal tells WGNO.
O’Neal also drives a truck and was carrying a rope that was long enough to reach the water below the bridge.
He saw that the driver of the pickup truck that landed in the water was able to escape the cabin and stay on the surface of the water.
“We lowered the rope down to him, and he held onto it until help arrived.
O’Neal says in less than ten minutes Causeway police officers arrived at the scene and lowered a rope ladder into the water. He took a photograph as emergency responders lifted the driver to safety.
“He looked like he was in shock,” O’Neal said.
As far as the crash itself, O’Neal says he didn’t see the impact of the trucks or the circumstances that causes it. But he said he was able to see the smoke ahead that it caused.
O’Neal says the quick response from police was impressive.
The accident comes as bridge administrators are working to convince the public to pay higher tolls to pay for safety updates for the bridge.