Watch a Georgia man on a motorcycle nearly plummet off a Florida drawbridge
Newly released surveillance video shows the terrifying moment when a motorcyclist crashed through the gate of a rising drawbridge and nearly plummeted to his death in Daytona Beach this month.
The video shows the drawbridge gates, with red lights flashing, moving into the down position at the Main Street Bridge. That was a notice to drivers and pedestrians that the bridge is going up and they need to stop.
But 60-year-old Mark Hagen of Georgia didn’t stop.
The video shows Hagen, on his red 2008 Honda motorcycle, crash through the drawbridge gate. He falls off his bike and onto the bridge, just before the motorcycle skids over the edge.
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A trailer Hagen was pulling kept the motorcycle suspended. Daytona Beach police closed the area for cleanup, repairs and a bridge safety inspection.
Hagen, who was heading east on the bridge toward the beach, told officers he was “trying to clear rain water off his helmet shield and failed to observe the bridge warning lights,” according to the crash report.
The scare happened during a wet and rainy morning, just before 10 a.m. March 12, although the surveillance video shows the wrong date and time. The 81st annual Daytona Beach Bike Week, which is advertised as the world’s largest motorcycle event, was in town.
It’s the most recent drawbridge-related accident to occur in Florida. In February, 79-year-old bicyclist Carol Wright fell to her death when the West Palm Beach drawbridge she was crossing opened. Recently released surveillance video also showed the moment when a Lantana drawbridge opened while a car was still on it in October.
Hagen was given a citation for careless driving.
