WASHINGTON — A driver escaped a rollover collision with only minor injuries Sunday on a Beltway bridge. But moments later, he jumped off the bridge to avoid oncoming traffic.
After surviving a vehicle rollover on the American Legion Bridge over the Potomac at the Clara Barton Parkway at about 6 a.m., Toray Lamond Guider, 43, of Walkersville, Maryland, suddenly jumped over the road barrier in an apparent attempt to avoid an imminent second collision, the Maryland State Police said in a statement.
Guider plummeted about 50 feet into a grassy patch below, and as of Sunday afternoon was being treated for his injuries at an area hospital.
According to police, Guider — whose car had come to a rest in the middle of the roadway after striking a guardrail — had been speaking with another motorist — William Schnaekel, 45, of Dallastown, Pennsylvania — who had come to his aid when another car, driven by Fatemeh Beshkari, 46, of Gaithersburg, crashed into both vehicles.
In what police believe to have been a split-second decision to avoid the oncoming cars, Guider jumped off the side of the bridge. First responders arrived on-scene only to find he had apparently vanished.
It took several minutes to find Guider on the ground below.
The other two drivers were taken to area hospitals, having suffered non-life threatening injuries.
WTOP’s Will Vitka contributed to this report.
