BOURN – A dealership employee crossing the Sagamore Bridge was struck by falling ice and literally had to come to an emergency stop Thursday as he drove quickly to retrieve a customer’s spare key. Glass from the windshield was scattered all over the car.
“Of course the most important thing for us is that our drivers are safe, that’s all that really matters,” said Mark Rountree of Plymouth Hyundai. “I’ve been in the auto industry for 30 years and I’ve never had a car damaged by ice falling off a bridge.”
Navigating the narrow lanes of busy bridges is already an arduous drive for many local drivers.
“I can’t imagine the horror of that happening, because it’s something you don’t expect,” the Mashpee driver said. “The sound, the impact, the shock. It must have been really scary.”
Another driver said: “There’s no place to park. Then you won’t be able to see anything.”
“I’m sure it was scary and I feel sorry for the people it happened to, but it’s not anyone’s fault per se. The timing of the storm and the temperatures caused problems overnight,” one man said. added.
A bigger problem for people who frequently use the bridge is the aging of the infrastructure itself.
The Mashpee driver added, “I don’t think there’s going to be a state bailout, a county bailout, a federal bailout. We need a new bridge.”
The driver in this case was able to maintain control of the vehicle and safely drive off to call the police. A second vehicle was also hit by ice floes Thursday afternoon. Police said no one was injured and the vehicle did not have to be towed, although the sunroof had damage.