In a scene one might expect to see in a movie, a man trying to escape his involvement in a car crash on the Bay Bridge between Oakland and San Francisco on Thursday climbed over the guardrail and jumped, the California Highway Patrol said.
The man had been involved in a two-car crash on eastbound Interstate 80 around 2 p.m., CHP spokesman Mark Andrews said.
The man, described as being in his 20s or 30s, climbed onto the bridge railing and dove into the water below, where he began swimming backwards toward the west side of the bridge, the CHP said.
The U.S. Coast Guard rescued the man around 2:45 p.m.
Andrews said it was “definitely unusual” for a driver to jump off a bridge after a collision and that he had never seen that happen before. The driver suffered rib fractures from the impact with the water and was being evaluated at a hospital.
Authorities did not disclose whether the man was arrested.
