# How were vehicles kept off the FS Key bridge before it collapsed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 27, 2024, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-vehicles-kept-off-the-fs-key-bridge-before-it-collapsed/999480 "2024-03-27T22:02:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-vehicles-kept-off-the-fs-key-bridge-before-it-collapsed/999480/21 "2024-03-28T15:52:35Z")
The NY Times had a transcript of the conversation where part of the conversation went basically “Hey, can somebody get in touch with the crew’s foreman?” to “The bridge just collapsed” in something like 30 seconds. Those men never had a chance and it’s not really anybody’s fault. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-vehicles-kept-off-the-fs-key-bridge-before-it-collapsed/999480/22 "2024-03-28T15:55:27Z")
It should be noted most traffic uses the tunnel, even at 0130. Trucks OTOH are prohibited from using the tunnel, and that’s mostly what you see going across the bridge just before the impact. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-vehicles-kept-off-the-fs-key-bridge-before-it-collapsed/999480/23 "2024-03-28T15:56:20Z")
Ah. Found it. Radio Chatter Reveals How Officers Quickly Closed Bridge to Traffic [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/27/us/baltimore-key-bridge-mayday-call-radio.html?smid=nytcore-android-share&ugrp=c&pvid=98c47299-626f-44c5-ae44-31f207fed91e](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/27/us/baltimore-key-bridge-mayday-call-radio.html?smid=nytcore-android-share&ugrp=c&pvid=98c47299-626f-44c5-ae44-31f207fed91e) ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-vehicles-kept-off-the-fs-key-bridge-before-it-collapsed/999480/24 "2024-03-28T17:23:19Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > It should be noted most traffic uses the tunnel, even at 0130. Trucks OTOH are prohibited from using the tunnel, and that’s mostly what you see going across the bridge just before the impact. car lights are mostly below the level of the Jersey barriers on the sides of the bridge & therefore not [seen](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bridge-collapse-in-baltimore-2024-03-26/999372/149). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-vehicles-kept-off-the-fs-key-bridge-before-it-collapsed/999480/25 "2024-03-28T17:39:35Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Oh Hells no! A vehicle is much bigger (& brighter) than a person & noticeable sooner. True, but it also takes a nonzero amount of time to get to the car, get in, turn it on, turn on the lights, and drive into position. Not much time, but we’re talking maybe 30 seconds here that the cops had available. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-vehicles-kept-off-the-fs-key-bridge-before-it-collapsed/999480/26 "2024-03-28T17:45:50Z")
I searched out a few videos of the collapse last night. One newscast called attention to the construction crew and reran the video while zoomed in to highlight the construction trucks with their blinking yellow lights. After watching that, I was surprised when they said that one of the crew had survived. The construction trucks were near the center of the bridge, and the trucks definitely went down with the bridge. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-vehicles-kept-off-the-fs-key-bridge-before-it-collapsed/999480/27 "2024-03-28T18:27:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > True, but it also takes a nonzero amount of time to get to the car, get in, turn it on, turn on the lights, and drive into position. Not much time, but we’re talking maybe 30 seconds here that the cops had available. You’re assuming the cops weren’t sitting (or even driving) in a running vehicle. Moving a gearshift to **P** is much quicker, & safer than getting out of a car & putting on a reflective vest & _hoping_ cars see you & stop instead of swerving around you. There are entire classes in how to places vehicles at a scene, including a blocking vehicle because despite lots of flashing & rotating emergency lights, people still drive into the existing accident/incident scene; better to hit a vehicle than a person. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-vehicles-kept-off-the-fs-key-bridge-before-it-collapsed/999480/28 "2024-03-28T18:51:53Z")
Yeah, that’s certainly possible. Someone earlier mentioned that there was a sort of mini-police station at the end of the bridge, so I was imagining the responding officers being inside the building. ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-vehicles-kept-off-the-fs-key-bridge-before-it-collapsed/999480/29 "2024-03-28T19:06:01Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > You’re assuming the cops weren’t sitting (or even driving) in a running vehicle. Right, at construction sites they’re usually sitting in their cruiser with the lights flashing the whole time, just acting as a warning beacon for oncoming traffic while they listen to the radio, do work on their dash-mounted laptops, or even just play on their phones. As soon as they got the radio announcement all they’d have to do is put it in drive and pull across the one remaining open lane. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2024, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-vehicles-kept-off-the-fs-key-bridge-before-it-collapsed/999480/30 "2024-03-29T16:33:41Z")
> [@jjakucyk](#): > > > [@Spiderman](#): > > > > …There happened to be a cop at either end of the bridge when the call came in…There was also construction / pothole repairs happening on the bridge…There’s always a cop there when they’re doing construction on an interstate… > > That’s it in a nutshell. > > > [@CairoCarol](#): > > > > There is now a report saying two bodies have been recovered from a pick-up truck, so they probably were trying to drive away. > > Perhaps, but they could just as well have been on a break, warming themselves up from the cold, doing paperwork, etc. The wife of one of the survivors said that exact thing. The workers were on a break in their cars when it happened. > **[Wife of Baltimore bridge collapse survivor says workers were on break in...](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna145465)** > > Julio Cervantes was one of eight construction workers on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed. He and another co-worker were rescued. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-were-vehicles-kept-off-the-fs-key-bridge-before-it-collapsed/999480.md?page=1)