Wrong-way driver hits 18-wheeler head-on, sending it off I-45 and into Downtown Aquarium parking lot

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A wrong-way driver on I-45 southbound crashed head-on into an 18-wheeler Friday morning, sending the truck flying over a bridge and into a parking lot below.

It happened at Preston when a car was headed northbound in the southbound lanes, police said. The truck landed near the Downtown Aquarium with the driver inside.

Surveillance video captures 18-wheeler falling from freeway.

Amazingly, the driver survived.

The crash happened around 2:30 a.m.

The car’s driver, identified as 56-year-old Carrie Edens, was headed the wrong way when she crashed head-on into the 18-wheeler, causing the chain reaction that sent the cab and trailer flying approximately 50 to 80 feet over the bridge, according to Houston police.

The truck was hauling charcoal and was demolished, according to Sean Teare with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.

The driver of the 18-wheeler, a 65-year-old man, suffered minor injuries. He could be seen on a stretcher with a neck brace.

The freeway was closed for several hours to clean up the mess left behind. Feeder roads and surface streets in the area were also impacted by the crash scene.

Edens was believed to be intoxicated when she drove the wrong way on the freeway and faces DWI charges, authorities said. She suffered a broken leg in the crash and was being treated at a hospital.