NEW ORLEANS — The fog conditions that contributed to the many car accidents that caused the closure of the 24-mile-long (38.6-kilometer-long) bridge that connects the north and south coasts of Lake Pontchartrain in southeast Louisiana caused numerous persons to sustain injuries on Tuesday morning. Both bridges were reopened during the early evening hours.
There were a total of six collisions, according to Carlton Dufrechou, the general manager of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. Two of the collisions occurred on the southbound span, while four occurred on the northbound span. Officials from the St. Tammany Parish Fire Department informed local news sources that 33 people were sent to hospitals in the surrounding area for treatment of injuries. Not a single person lost their life.
Dufrechou stated that he was unaware of the precise number of vehicles that were involved in the collisions as well as the overall number of people who were injured.
According to the officials, a total of thirty individuals were left stranded on the bridge for a period of several hours and were transferred by van to either Metairie, which is located on the south shore of the lake, or Mandeville, which is located on the north shore of the lake.
According to what I’ve been told, fog was not the sole cause, but it was certainly a factor. “Fog was a factor,” he stated. Initially, there was a haze on the bridge, but all of a sudden, fog began to form. Every day, we see accidents on this bridge, and sixty percent to seventy percent of those incidents are caused by drivers who are not paying attention to the road. This could be because they are texting, answering their phones, or looking down instead of looking at the road.
It was approximately 8:30 in the morning when the causeway that connected the metropolitan center of New Orleans on the south side to the suburban neighborhoods on the north shore was shut down. At approximately five o’clock in the afternoon, the bridge was reopened with rolling convoys, according to the officials. This occurred after damaged vehicles from the two parallel spans were removed.
The collisions that occurred on Tuesday were reminiscent of a fatal accident that occurred on Interstate 55 on October 23, 2023, close to New Orleans. There were approximately 160 automobiles involved in the pileups that occurred during a super fog, which is caused by the smoke from marsh fires combined with dense fog. Seven drivers were killed and approximately twenty dozen more were injured.
Additionally, the Bonnet Carre Spillway Bridge was placed under temporary closure due to the fog, although it was eventually reopened. During the period of terrible weather, there were no accidents that were reported on that bridge.
