ST. IGNACE, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – It may never be determined what jettisoned Leslie Pluhar to her death on Sept. 22, 1989 in what has become one of the most infamous crash in the history of Michigan.
What happened?
Pluhar, of Royal Oak, had her Yugo subcompact careen off the Mackinac Bridge with many residents believing it was due to the wind, although that’s not what crash investigators determined.
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On Monday, the Mackinac Bridge was partially closed due to high winds at the speed of 50 to 64 mph, according to the Mackinac Bridge Authority. That’s significantly higher than how strong the winds were on that fateful day in 1989, which newspaper reports clocked at 35 to 48 mph.
In 1991, the Detroit Free Press described the series of events that led to Pluhar’s death based on reports from the Michigan State Police. The accident case file was 11 1/2 feet thick and more than 6,000 pages.
“So far, the experts seem to agree only that it wasn’t the wind – contrary to early reports and widespread belief that the subcompact was swept over the side in a gale,” the 1991 Detroit Free Press article stated.
Pluhar’s final moments.
Here’s how the Detroit Free Press described Pluhar’s final moments based on reports from the Michigan State Police. She was driving northbound in the inner lane and straddled the 4-inch-high, 24-inch wide median. After straddling the median for 70 feet, the cars skidded to the right. The car skidded across the grated inner lane and asphalt outer lane and hit the 11-inch high tubular curb with its right front tire. The impact with the curb lifted the car onto the 38-inch high outer guardrail, where it slid 45 feet before dropping off the outside. The car hit a steel support girder, then a beam under the bridge and fell 170 feet into the water.
It took eight days to recover Pluhar’s body because high wind had triggered 10-feet-high waves, thwarting recovery efforts.
The Detroit Free Press reported that as Pluhar passed the south tower of the bridge, the winds hitting her car from the side and below dropped to 35 mph, “far less than it would take to lift a car into the air, according to tests done by scientists.”
Witness statements.
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Witness Donald Klassen of Manitoba witnessed the accident in his semitruck and stopped and got out. He told investigators the wind was so strong “it was difficult to stand up.” Another witness, John Dunn of Sault Ste. Marie, told investigators the car “appeared to be lifted by the wind” over the edge.”
The Detroit Free Press reported Pluhar hit the curb head-on at about 55-63 mph. A 1990 Grand Rapids Press editorial stated, “Evidence showed that Ms. Pluhar stepped on the accelerator rather than the brake, which launched her careening car over the guardrail.”
The Yugo weighed 1,832 pounds and investigators said the light weight of the car played a role in it falling off the bridge. The Yugo was manufactured from 1980 through 2008. Attorneys and investigators said a heavier car may not have bounced high enough to go over the guard rail.
Pluhar’s family sued and the state settled the lawsuit for $500,000 in 1997, according to media reports.
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