CLEVELAND — Traffic crashes closed Route 2 westbound Downtown Sunday morning and sent a 36-year-old man who survived a miraculous jump over the freeway wall to the hospital.
“He didn’t get out scot-free, but [it was a] pretty good result for what he went through,” said Cleveland Fire Lt. Mike Norman.
Three crashes involving three vehicles happened around 10 a.m. Sunday near the West 3rd and West 6th street entrances. Cleveland Fire Department officials believe icy road conditions may have been caused by the shadows from nearby buildings.
“The sun was drying a lot of that ice off, but it wasn’t able to hit that one patch. And so we had a number of motor vehicle accidents right there,” said Lt. Norman.
He explained one driver was outside of his car when another vehicle lost control and started sliding toward him. To avoid being hit, the man jumped the wall and fell about 30 feet.
“He landed on his feet, amazingly was not injured seriously," Norman said. "[He] was in serious condition but was treated by Cleveland EMS, transported to Metro hospital and it was a good result for him from a long fall.”
An adult woman was transported by EMS in stable condition. Two other adults were uninjured and left the scene.
The highway was closed for over an hour while police, fire, and EMS were on the scene. Traffic was diverted to the East 9th Street exit while first responders investigated.
Lt. Norman cautioned drivers to stay alert on cold days, even when it's sunny outside.
“It only takes a little bit of rain on an icy road, on a cold morning like that, to create those icy conditions," he said. "You can have black ice on the highway that you don’t even see until you’re on it, and you’re out of control.”
He also recommended drivers involved in crashes to pull off to a safe location if possible.
“If you need to exchange information, just arrange with the other driver to go someplace safe so you’re off the roadway and can exchange information or go to the police district to write a report,” Norman said.
The driver who jumped from the bridge suffered some scrapes and injured his back, but the injuries did not appear life-threatening.
