The man who survived a brush with death in the Tasman Bridge collapse nearly 50 years ago says the latest bridge tragedy in the US demonstrates the need to halt traffic over bridges as ships sail underneath.
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Frank Manley and his family were driving in the Holden Monaro pictured in famous photographs dangling off the edge of the collapsed Tasman Bridge at Hobart in 1975.
"When the Tasman Bridge went down, we had no traffic lights on that bridge," he said.
Before the Lake Illawarra cargo ship struck the bridge, causing its collapse, traffic was allowed to continue over the bridge even as ships sailed underneath it.
"The Tasmanian Government woke up to the situation, and now we've got traffic lights, and the archway lights up and changes colour two or three times a week.
"And that's a good move the ships can see the outline of the bridge."
Following the tragedy, the state government mandated a halt to traffic over the bridge during passage underneath of any large vessel.
Mr Manley, who turns 94 this week, made his comments a day after a heavy cargo ship lost power and rammed a central pylon of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the US city of Baltimore, causing most of its span to collapse on Tuesday morning US time.
By Tuesday evening, recovery efforts for six construction workers that were on the bridge at the time of the incident were still ongoing.
Investigators had already found several vehicles in the water under the collapsed span, including three passenger cars and the cement truck that was on use by the construction crew.
There are numerous persons still missing, with just one body pulled from the water, and search efforts are ongoing, according to US officials.
Mr Hanley said he thought the death toll from the latest bridge collapse would rise.
"I think there's going to be quite a few more killed on this bridge than ours," he said.
He recalled that in January 1975, his wife had first seen the collapsed span and yelled out a warning after he drove over the bridge crest.
He said that warning and his quick decision to brake saved the life of himself and his family.
His daughter escaped out of the two-door car first, and she ran up to the bridge crest to warn other drivers to stop.
"We were worried that someone would come over the top of the hill and run into the rest of us.
"My car was still see-sawing, it was still moving quite a bit on the point of no return."
