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Fatal falls were from separated bridge Tuesday Jan 3, 2017 at 5:13 PM Jan 3, 2017 at 5:13 PM By April Ehrlich The News-Review MYRTLE CREEK — Two women escaped a car accident unharmed near Myrtle Creek early Monday morning, only to climb over a bridge railing and plunge 80 feet to a riverbank below. They were pronounced dead by medics who arrived at the scene. The two women have been identified as Amanda J. Fuller, 32, of Roseburg, and Stephanie N. Thomas, 29, of San Bernardino, California. The investigation is continuing. Around 2:30 a.m., a 2002 Kia sport utility vehicle was headed southbound on Interstate 5 when the driver lost control and crashed on the bridge over the South Umpqua River near milepost 112. The women left the vehicle and reported the incident to police. Later, in the dark, the two women climbed over a bridge railing and fell onto the South Umpqua riverbank. The north- and southbound lanes are separate, so they are in effect two bridges running parallel to each other. This is not the first time someone climbed over the railing of the same I-5 bridge. Darlene Ford, 63, of Coos Bay, also fell from the bridge after surviving a car accident. Her body was later found by search and rescue units. Ford was riding as a passenger with her daughter, Judith Mason, of Myrtle Point, on a dark, rainy night on Oct. 30, 1997. Mason’s car hit some puddles, spun out, then bounced off both sides of the bridge, according to a News-Review article from the following day. The car came to a stop in the fast lane. When Mason and Ford got out, they saw two semi-trucks traveling side-by-side and heading toward them. The pair feared for their safety, believing the truck in the fast lane might not change lanes in time before striking their car. Ford stepped over the railing, believing the northbound and southbound bridges were connected by ground. Instead, she fell to the river. Her granddaughter, Diana Fox, of Roseburg, remembers the incident clearly. She did not experience the accident herself, but she remembers the effects it had on her family later. “Grandma saw trucks coming, she was just wanting to get out of the way of the road,” Fox recalled. “I wasn’t there, but I know that she didn’t know where she was. Or that she was on a bridge. It was dark. Even if she knew she was on a bridge, she would have never thought that they weren’t connected. She just had no idea.” There are several similar bridges running along I-5. Oregon Department of Transportation spokesman Jared Castle said the design is “not an issue.” “This was an anomaly,” he said. “It’s not something we see happen often, but we have the same parallel structure design up and down Interstate 5.” “It’s a horrible tragedy, but there isn’t really any fix to it,” Castle added. “It’s just an unfortunate situation.” Fox and her family tried bringing attention to the parallel bridge design after her grandmother’s death in 1997, but she did not know where to begin. She would like to see paint on the railings so people know when they are on a bridge, as well as lights on the river, so people can see it. Castle said people frequently don’t know when the freeway has turned into a bridge. “Oh yeah, there’s tons of areas where people don’t realize they’re on a bridge,” he said. When it’s also dark outside, then there is a good chance they have no idea what’s beneath them. Still, he does not think lights would be a solution. He did not say why. April Ehrlich covers Douglas County city halls for The News-Review. Follow her on Twitter @AprilEhrlich.