What Happens If a Commercial Truck Hits a Low Bridge?
A commercial semi-trailer shearing its roof off underneath a low-clearance bridge or overpass is one of the most destructive and visually dramatic accidents in the transportation industry. Widely known among drivers as "can-opener" crashes, these collisions instantly destroy tens of thousands of dollars in freight, shut down major highway corridors for hours, and often cause catastrophic structural damage to municipal infrastructure.
When an 80,000-pound rig collides with a concrete overpass, the resulting debris field can severely injure passenger cars traveling behind or adjacent to the truck. Knowing exactly what happens if a commercial truck hits a low bridge is critical for injured victims seeking compensation and for CDL drivers navigating liability and career fallout.
In more than 80% of low-bridge collisions, the root cause is the driver's reliance on non-commercial GPS systems (such as standard Google Maps or Apple Maps on a smartphone). Federal FMCSA guidelines explicitly warn against using consumer navigation, which does not account for a 13-foot-6-inch commercial trailer height. Using non-commercial GPS to plan a freight route is legally considered a failure of the driver's duty of care.
Who Is Liable for the Damages?
When a bridge strike occurs, liability is pursued across multiple financial channels by municipal authorities, cargo owners, and injured third-party motorists:
- The Motor Carrier (Vicarious Liability): Under the doctrine of Respondeat Superior, the trucking company is financially responsible for the driver's route-planning negligence. The company's property damage and liability insurance must reimburse the city for structural bridge repairs and compensate any nearby drivers injured by falling debris.
- The Municipal Authority (Defective Signage): In rare instances, defense attorneys can shift partial fault to the city or state Department of Transportation if the warning signs preceding the bridge were missing, obscured by overgrown trees, or displayed an incorrect height clearance following recent road repaving.
- Cargo Loss Claims: The cargo inside the sheared trailer is almost always a total loss. The freight owner will file an immediate claim against the motor carrier's inland marine cargo insurance policy to recover the full market value of the destroyed goods.
Consequences for the CDL Driver
For the commercial driver, a bridge strike is considered a severe, preventable safety violation. In most jurisdictions, police will issue traffic citations for "failure to obey traffic control devices" and "inattentive driving." Because of the immense cost and embarrassment of these crashes, major motor carriers enforce a strict zero-tolerance policy, frequently resulting in the driver's immediate termination and a damaging entry on their DAC employment report.