The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A MACK truck with failed brakes barrelled through traffic on the Sir Sidney Poitier Bridge on Friday morning, shoving one vehicle towards the toll booths and smashing into several others in a chaotic pile-up that stunned motorists but caused no serious injuries.

The truck was travelling north towards Paradise Island when its brakes failed near the crest of the bridge, according to Chief Superintendent Sybrina Porter, officer-in-charge of the Traffic Division.

“When he got to the top, the brakes on the vehicle failed, and he went, he went forward and causing damage to multiple vehicles,” she said.

“He stopped right at the toll booth. The vehicle came to stop there, but prior to that, he caused damage to quite a number of vehicles.”

Chief Supt Porter could not immediately provide an exact count of the damaged vehicles, although videos from the scene appeared to show at least five caught in the collision.

Footage showed motorists confronting an extraordinary scene as the heavy truck advanced towards the toll plaza, horns blared and drivers desperately tried to move out of its path.

A white vehicle trapped ahead of the truck was pushed forward as the truck continued towards the booths. Later footage showed the vehicle crushed near the toll plaza, wedged against another booth with extensive damage to its front end.

Other vehicles appeared scattered near the toll booths and against the bridge’s side walls.

Despite the scale of the wreckage, police reported no serious injuries.

One woman was seen sitting on the ground beneath an umbrella as several people gathered around her. Other motorists and bystanders stood along the pavement, appearing stunned and confused as they surveyed the damaged vehicles.

“Oh my God,” one person could be heard saying.

The crash brought traffic across the bridge to a crawl, leaving motorists trapped in lengthy delays while police investigated and the damaged vehicles obstructed the approach to the toll booths.

Images and videos of the collision quickly spread across social media, with news outlets posting footage of the wreckage and traffic at a standstill. The publicly visible reaction was marked largely by bewilderment over how the truck had ploughed through so many vehicles before stopping at the toll plaza, along with immediate speculation about its speed and failed brakes.

The videos appeared to capture the collision from different stages.

In one, traffic was still moving towards the toll booths when horns began sounding and vehicles attempted to clear the truck’s path. The white vehicle directly ahead could not escape and was forced forward.

Another recording showed the aftermath at the toll plaza, where the Mack truck had finally stopped and damaged vehicles were clustered within feet of the booths.