WEST PALM BEACH (CBS12) — The woman who fell to her death from the Royal Park Bridge last week has been identified as 78-year-old Carol Wright.
Monday morning, her family’s lawyer spoke about the tragedy.
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West Palm Beach police said on Sunday, Feb. 6, Wright was walking her bicycle westbound across the Royal Park Bridge when the bridge opened, and she got caught in the middle and fell through an opening.
Wright was just 10 feet away from the fixed portion of the bridge when it started to rise.
Police said Wright tried to hang on and there was a bystander nearby who tried to help her. Tragically, she fell five or six stories to the concrete below and died.
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Attorney Lance Ivey said not enough was done to prevent this.
“We have six abilities to prevent this tragedy. None of them were taken. What did they do right? They didn’t even do the bare minimum to protect Carol,” he said.
The investigation is looking into whether the bridge tender followed safety protocols before opening the drawbridge.
According to Ivey, the bridge tender was negligent. He said there was a minimum of three cameras on the bridge with monitors to see pedestrian and vehicle traffic. Also, the bridge tender was supposed to physically walk onto a balcony three times to make sure it was clear. He added that was also a stop button that could have been pushed.
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The Florida Department of Transportation maintains the bridge, but the bridge tenders are staffed by a private state contractor.
