Mackinac Bridge wind alert spurs memories of car that plunged off in 1989

Maryann Struman | Detroit Free Press

High wind warnings on the Mackinac Bridge strike fear in the heart of motorists — especially those who remember the story of Leslie Pluhar.

Pluhar, 31, a waitress from Royal Oak, was speeding across the bridge in her 1987 Yugo on Sept. 22, 1989, when 48-mph wind gusts caused her to lose control and plunge off the 5-mile suspension bridge to her death.

Her car veered left onto the bridge's 4-inch-high median and then back across the northbound lanes, hitting a curb and jumping an outer guardrail. Pluhar's vehicle went off the bridge and into the Straits of Mackinac.

It took Michigan State Police divers eight days to find the mangled Yugo, which was resting in waters 152 feet deep. Investigators said Pluhar had been traveling more than 60 mph but couldn't determine what made her car veer.

But her speeding was considered to be a factor in the accident. That's why the Mackinac Bridge Authority recommends that motorists travel no faster than 20 mph during high wind events.

The case captured headlines nationally.

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But the incident, while terrifying, is relatively rare.

According to Mike Fornes, author of "Mackinac Bridge: A 50-Year Chronicle," only two occupied vehicles have fallen off the Mackinac Bridge.

Besides Pluhar, a 1996 Ford Bronco driven by Richard Alan Daraban fell off the bridge in 1997. State police later determined Daraban had driven off the bridge deliberately.