Truck Driver Survives After Semi Falls Off I-75 Rouge River Bridge

DETROIT (WWJ) - A semi truck driver sustained only non-life threatening injuries after his truck fell off the Rouge River bridge in Southwest Detroit.

It happened after 10 a.m. Thursday on northbound I-75 near Dearborn St., according to Michigan State Police.

Police say preliminary information is that the semi driver lost control and struck two other vehicles, causing the truck to veer off the bridge.

"Some of the conversation he had with some of the paramedics out there was that he thought he had hit like a patch of ice or something to that extent...and actually it's not cold enough to have something there," said MSP Lt. Mike Shaw. "So we'll interview him some more get some different interviews from the other parties that were involved in the crash, the other two drivers, and we'll go from there."

The truck driver sustained a broken leg, a broken arm and other minor injuries. No one else was injured.

Shaw said, clearly, it could've been a lot worse.

"That is probably about a 40-foot drop or so," he said "I think it's a good reminder — and this is all very preliminary, of course  — but we're going to see a lot of rain here in the next couple of days, we're going to get some ponding on the roadways, so you need to keep the speeds down for sure."

Shaw said the driver and passenger in a black Chrysler involved in the crash were also taken to a local hospital with minor injuries. The driver of a Jeep involved was uninjured.

Early in the afternoon, the right lane of northbound I-75 at Dearborn St. remained blocked for an investigation.