Driving through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel saves truckers much time and money, but some drivers do not feel safe driving through it.
According to a long time truck driver named Bob Hildebrant, the barriers inside the tunnel need to be upgraded.
Another trucker, Jack Desmond, avoids using the tunnel at all costs, even though driving around it costs him time and money.
He said that the tunnel is very long, narrow and traffic is heavy. Car drivers are flying past you and the bridge also is too low for trucks.
On the other hand, some truckers have no problem with the tunnel. One noted to the media this week that drivers who have a problem with the tunnel should learn to drive better. Another driver named Reggie Williams drives the tunnel 10 times each week. He wondered how high the guardrail really needs to be as you are driving in a straight line.
Ron Bernard has driven big rigs for eight years, and he is cautious when he uses the tunnel. His biggest concern has always been the height of the guardrails. He believes that they are not high enough.
Some safety experts say that the higher guardrails may not even make that much of a difference. If you are driving too fast in a truck through the bridge and tunnel, accidents can still happen.
The dangers of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel were highlighted this week, when a truck driver died after slamming into a stopped maintenance truck on the roadway. This caused the tractor trailer to jackknife, go over the barricades and to plunge into the water below. The Virginia Beach Fire Department reported that Navy divers responded to recover the body.
