Bridge Director: Speed Probably Factor in Deadly Crash

City delayed project to add speed humps on lanes

PHARR - Speed may have caused the deadly accident on the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge. That's according to the bridge director, Jesse Medina.

"There's no doubt in my mind, that speed was a factor in last night's accident," he tells us.

Four people died in the multi-vehicle crash. It's the first fatal accident on the bridge in the five year's Medina's been director.

"Speed is generally the number one factor in accidents," he explains. "Being able to control speed on a structure like this is some what difficult."

He tells us speeding cars and dangerous drivers are a daily occurrence. NEWSCHANNEL 5 put cameras on the bridge near the accident site. We saw the dangers Medina mentioned. What we didn't see was police stopping any of the drivers.

The bridge director says, "We've tried to put enforcement on the bridge. It is also risky on the lives of the officers up there, because of the amount of traffic and the proximity to Mexico."

Medina says the City of Pharr has a plan in the works. It's called the Northbound Lanes Project.

"That project is to add northbound lanes, more signage, and what's commonly called, speed humps," says Medina.

He tells us the plan was put on hold last year. The bridge director admits if the project has been in place a year ago, like the city intended, last night's horrific accident could have been prevented.