“Truckers to the rescue” under Orlando overpass
A group of truckers came together on the Florida Turnpike this afternoon to help a person in distress on an overpass.
In an image shared by the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), you can see at least six semi trucks lined up under an overpass on the Florida Turnpike. FHP captioned the tweet with the hashtag #truckerstotherescue.
Turnpike closed in both directions at mm 260. In Orlando. Man on the overpass in distress. #truckerstotherescue pic.twitter.com/uBcmScbWlE
— FHP Orlando (@FHPOrlando) August 28, 2018
Orlando police say that the man was off of the overpass without injury as of 3 p.m.
UPDATE: Subject is safely down off of the Kirkman Road overpass to the Florida Turnpike.
Drivers and others in the vicinity: Please be patient – we are getting you moving.
Special thanks to the truck drivers that assisted us out there! pic.twitter.com/F6x3e3ukSC
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) August 28, 2018
The Florida Turnpike was shut down in both directions at mile marker 260 but all lanes have reopened.
Great job, truckers! A half-dozen trucks lined up under an Orlando overpass to stop a man threatening to jump: https://t.co/bv1ibj8DhC pic.twitter.com/uvPI0qRiHh
— WESH 2 News (@WESH) August 28, 2018
The technique of lining up semi trucks under an overpass to shorten the fall in case a disturbed person should try to jump has been used by law enforcement agencies for years. In April, 13 trucks lined up under an overpass in Detroit at the request of the Michigan State Police in order to stop a person threatening to jump. The person was eventually taken into custody without injury or incident.
MSP’s Lt. Mike Shaw said that his agency never has trouble getting truck drivers to volunteer to help: “They want to help out too. Nobody wants to see somebody take their own life and if it takes parking your truck underneath an overpass for a couple of hours to make sure somebody’s safe, they’re more than willing to do something like that.”
