A routine drive across a Baltimore bridge nearly ended in disaster in the autumn of 1919 when an automobile skidded out of control and crashed through an iron safety railing.
As the vehicle slid across the bridge, two passengers leaped to safety moments before the car smashed through the barrier.
The driver, Ross Casassa, remained inside as the automobile lurched over the edge and came to rest in a seemingly impossible position with its front wheels hanging in midair, suspended some 200 feet above the ground below.
The accident drew immediate attention and left onlookers staring in disbelief at the sight of a car balanced on the brink of catastrophe.
Car Hangs on Bridge’s Edge 200 Feet in Air
BALTIMORE, Maryland. — Dashing over the side of a bridge in an automobile with death waiting 200 feet below, was the hair raising experience of Ross Casassa when his auto skidded and tore through an iron railing on the Gwynn Falls Bridge.
Two other occupants of the car, William P. Stocky and Thomas Licarione, both of Washington, D.C., leaped to safety before the crash.
The car climbed a 14-inch wooden sidewalk and plunged through the stout railing. The car skidded on the slippery car rail and started to turn around.
Casassa applied the breaks suddenly, causing the car to shift over violently.
It stopped with the two front wheels and half the body dangling over the bridge.
Source: The Washington Herald. Washington, D.C. November 2, 1919.
