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by Hannah James
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PENSACOLA, Fla. — One man is lucky to walk away predominately unscathed after hydroplaning off of the Bob Sikes bridge Sunday morning.
The driver, in a grey mustang, went off the bridge. Falling in his car between the north and southbound lanes.
First responders told WEAR News what happened.
This was how one driver's Sunday started in Gulf Breeze.
The Gulf Breeze Police Department says the call came in at 8 in the morning.
"Once we got there we saw some damage to the southbound left-hand land guardrail," Gulf Breeze Police Department Patrol Sgt. Ricky Turner said. "Some witnesses told us that the vehicle basically went over the guardrail and went right between the two spans of the bridge to the north and southbound."
Adam Hemphill, who shared his statement with us, said he was under the bridge while rain down poured in the area.
"There were about five of us standing down there when we heard a huge noise, then it got louder and louder, and we finally saw the car fly in between the two bridges into the water. Three of us stood at the edge of the seawall, prepared to jump in and save his life. At that moment, his head popped up, and he swam to shore unharmed."
"The car hydroplaned into the left-hand guardrail and slid across the K-rail of the bridge until the gap between the two bridges was big enough for the car to fall through. When it fell, it did a flip and landed on its side in the water."
"It was raining heavily at that time, so he believes he hydroplaned, which we pretty much concur with, and just lost control of the vehicle," Sgt. Turner said.
Hemphill saw the car crash into the water.
"We were finally able to kind of get a visual on the vehicle from looking down below and did see it, and it was definitely upside down," Sgt. Turner said.
Hemphill says he was 'emptying his pockets to jump in' and help, but he saw the driver's head pop out of the water as he swam to the seawall.
Luckily, the driver was the only person in the vehicle.
"One occupant, just the driver, who was able to extract himself and was helped out of the water by some witnesses that were unseen," Sgt. Turner said. "He was already out when we got there, and he was unharmed, uninjured."
No one else was injured, and the car was extracted from the bay.
First responders say this crash could have been much worse, and this reminds people to remain vigilant behind the wheel, even when you are following the speed limit.
"Slow down and drive within your vehicle's limits as well as your own limits," Sgt. Turner said. "The roads are wet. You're going to be slick when you're going from that asphalt to concrete. Just slow it down and pay attention to what's going on because he's very lucky today."
The Gulf Breeze Police Department believes the driver was driving 30 miles per hour.
The Gulf Breeze Police and Fire Departments, the Escambia County dive team, and Ace Wrecker Service were all a part of today's extraction and cleanup efforts.
