Bridge Collapses and Modern Life

I had thought about various blog posts to write--and then I heard about the collapse of the Key Bridge in Baltimore.  The video is dramatic, as are the pictures of the bridge in the water.  I suppose it could have been much worse.  The collapse happened at 1:30 in the morning, so there wouldn't have been as many vehicles on it as there would have been 5 hours earlier.

The collapse happened because a freighter crashed into it--many questions there.  I can't decide if I feel better or worse in knowing the cause.  On the one hand, at least it's not an infrastructure collapse.  On the other hand, how could a freighter go off course this way?  It's not like a recreational boater was being an idiot.  

Every time I hear of a bridge collapse, I wonder about the moments of collapse from the perspective of the drivers on the bridge.  At what point do they realize what is happening?  Or do they?  If the car leaves the bridge and falls, is that fall survivable?

I still have a little hammer in my car, a tool designed to break car windows, with a slicer on the other end that could help me get out of the seat belt if need be.  I bought them over 20 years ago, after seeing several news accounts of people going off the road into canals.  Even though my risk of going into a canal is much lower up here in the mountains, I keep one in the car, where I could get to it from the driver's front seat, if necessary.

[edited on 3/27/24:  in the articles in the aftermath of the bridge collapse, I read this one in The Washington Post that recommends not wasting precious moments trying to find any sort of tool to break the windows.  You've got about a minute where your electric windows will go down, and that's what you should do.  Here's the acronym SWOC and what it means:    

• Seat belts off.
• Windows open.
• Out immediately.
• Children first.  

It's easier to push people out of the sinking car than to pull them out.]

I thought about my route down to Spartanburg.  Do I go across any bridges?  I do, but they're not as dramatic as the Key Bridge.  If one of those collapsed, would it be survivable?

Hopefully, I'll never find out; hopefully the infrastructure will hold.  Every bridge I cross is not a bridge that could be struck by a freighter ship or anything big enough to cause a collapse--I think.

Let me bring these wonderings to a close so that I can get to work on time.