Police and firefighters were frustrated in their attempts to rescue a mom and her two daughters when their 3-series careened off the side of a bridge along the California coast. After hanging there for an hour, who happens along? A couple of SeaBees (Navy Engineers) with just the right forklift for the job.
What makes this rescue all the more remarkable is that, while the truck driver involved was killed, neither the mom or either of her 10-week old or 10-year old daughters was hurt. The police credit the baby's survival on the proper use of a rear-facing child seat placed not in the front, but in the back where it the car is most able to protect it.
The accident occurred when the tractor trailer allegedly struck the BMW from behind, pushing it through the guard rail while jackknifing itself off the bridge. The truck driver didn't have the same luck as the woman and her children, he was killed when his vehicle struck the river bed 100 feet below the bridge.