A WOMAN has fallen 60ft to her death when a drawbridge opened as she walked her bike across.
The woman was within 10 feet of the barrier arms that halt traffic when the Palm Beach drawbridge started to move, police said.
The tragic accident happened as she crossing the Royal Park Bridge toward West Palm Beach on the Florida mainland.
“The woman tried to hang on,” said West Palm Beach police spokesperson Mike Jachles.
“There was a bystander nearby who tried to help her, but tragically she fell five or six stories below where she died landing on concrete.”
He said the bridge tender has “specific safety protocols to follow” including “several visual confirmations” that there is nobody on draw bridge when it’s being raised.
“Why the bridge tender began raising the span before it was cleared of pedestrians will be a focus of the investigation,” he said.
After the unnamed woman’s death the bridge tender was reportedly “distraught” by what happened.
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Bicycle safety advocate Juan Orellana told West Palm Beach television station WPTV warnings are sounded before the bridge is raised.
“Palm Beach is accessible only through three bridges and this is the main bridge, so it’s very used by cyclists,” he said.
“The bridge is equipped with bells and whistles to alert drivers and pedestrians that the drawbridge is going up.
“For one thing you will hear the bell before the arms go down, so when you hear the bell you gotta get out of the way before the bridge goes up.”
The bridge was closed for more than six hours after the accident.
West Palm Beach police will look at whether bridge tender violated safety protocols by not ensuring bridge was clear before raising it.
Investigators will also seek to ascertain if the woman ignored warnings and walked over the span after the crossing arms were down.
The woman’s death is the second time in less than a year that a cyclist has been killed crossing a Florida drawbridge.
In March 2021, Fred Medina died when he ignored warning signs at a Miami River crossing.
The drawbridge started to rise and the 58-year-old dad-of-two plummeted to his death between the moving concrete and the roadway.
He was killed during his morning bike ride from Aventura to Key Biscayne when he tried to make it past the South Miami Avenue Bridge that links downtown Miami and Brickell over the Miami River.
Miami Police said the avid cyclist went on to the bridge as warning barriers levered downward and the whistle blew.
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