13 Truck Drivers Parked Side By Side Under Bridge To Stop Man From Jumping

A police department in Michigan banded together with truck drivers to protect a man who was attempting to commit suicide. The plan they had laid out is something in which they had trained for, however, the number of trucks who responded was incredible.

In the early hours of the morning on Interstate 696 in Detroit, Michigan police were negotiating with a man who was trying to end his life by jumping off of an overpass. According to ABC News, officers on the scene said the man told them he was having issues with his family. The Huntington Woods Police Department put a call out to truck drivers in the area while officers on scene flagged some down on the highway.

State police and truck drivers have developed a tactic in the event of a highway jumper. The practice they have in place is to line up truck drivers side by side, along both lanes of the highway to provide a safer landing if a person were to jump, creating a sort of “safety net”.

In this instance, once the trucks were in place, police officers were able to safely steer the man off of the bridge. They took him directly to receive medical assistance. State police Lt. Michael Shaw was amazed by the number of trucks who responded, “There are 13 truck drivers that didn’t even know this guy and were willing to slide underneath that overpass to help him,” he told ABC News.

This is not the first time this tactic has been used, and according to Shaw, they’ve never had a truck turn them down.

Following the rescue, the police department tweeted out a photograph of the efforts and included the phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. “We always want to make sure that people realize there are so many other options,” Shaw said.  

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