A woman, who was relying on GPS to navigate the way to visit a friend in Phrae province on Sunday, found her car stuck on a small pedestrian suspension bridge over a river.
She narrowly escaped tragedy, as the wooden bridge’s planks broke under the weight of her car, causing her left wheel to become stuck.
She immediately exited the vehicle and sought help from people nearby.
A police and rescue team used tractors to pull the car back onto the bank of the river.
The 120-meter bridge over the Yom River connects two villages in Tambon Wiang Thong in Sung Men district.
The driver, whose name was not revealed, mentioned that she was from Nong Muang Khai district, hoping to visit her friend in Sung Men. “I have never been to Wiang Thong before. My friend pinned a location for me in the GPS system to cross what is called Wiang Thong Bridge, so I would reach the destination,” she said.
She simply followed the guidance of the GPS. She did not see a cement bridge about 40 meters away.
“That’s why I got stuck on the bridge. I did not know that a new bridge had been built near the old one, which is used only by pedestrians,” she explained.
She said she wants signs put up to indicate that the old bridge is only suitable for pedestrian crossing and that there is a new bridge nearby for vehicles.
A villager, who witnessed the incident, said that he saw the car only when it was already stuck on the bridge, adding that “This wooden bridge was built about 40 years ago, and only people and tricycles are able to use it.”
