Motorcyclist hospitalized after crash on Three Mile Bridge, fall to pedestrian path

GULF BREEZE, Fla. -- A motorcycle crash on the Three Mile Bridge in Gulf Breeze Friday morning left a 65-year-old man hospitalized. It happened around 10:40 a.m. According to the Midway Fire District, several callers reported that a motorcycle traveling north lost control and struck the concrete barrier next to the pedestrian pathway. After the initial impact, the driver was ejected over the barrier. "Initial reports indicated the driver may have gone over the bridge rail and into the bay," Midway Fire says. "Upon arrival, first responders located the driver on the pedestrian pathway." The motorcyclist was the only person injured. "Fire responders had to climb over the curbside barrier and railing to reach the driver, with the bay directly below the gaps," Midway Fire says. Crews from Gulf Breeze Fire, Pensacola Engine 5 Rescue, and Lifeguard EMS treated the patient and prepared him for removal from the pathway. Using a short ladder, crews moved the patient to an ambulance on the bridge. "Witnesses on scene had also stopped to render aid and a torniquet had been applied to stop the bleeding," Gulf Breeze Police says. The man was declared a trauma alert and transported to Ascension Sacred Heart for emergency care. "Witnesses on scene had also stopped to render aid and a torniquet had been applied to stop the bleeding," Gulf Breeze Police says. The cause of the collision is under investigation by the Gulf Breeze Police Department. "Witnesses to the crash reported that the motorcycle rapidly accelerated when entering onto the bridge Northbound and began traveling at a high rate of speed," Gulf Breeze Police says. "The witnesses advised that the motorcycle was traveling between the two emergency lanes, weaving in and out of traffic, before the crash occurred." The right lane and emergency lane of the bridge was closed for approximately two hours while police investigated the crash.