Low-Ass Kansas City Bridge Dubbed 'Undefeated Champion' Eats Another Truck

If you build a bridge right, it will last an incredibly long time. So long, in fact, that the things traveling under that bridge might get too big to safely continue doing so, and even with signs, drivers still manage to get stuck. Boston has Storrow Drive. Durham, North Carolina, has the infamous 11-Foot-8 Bridge, and, apparently, Kansas City has the Independence Avenue Bridge. And according to Kansas City's Fox 4, the bridge, which locals have reportedly nicknamed "Undefeated Champion," claimed another victim on Monday.

This time around, the truck that the driver crashed into the bridge was reportedly carrying roofing materials that spilled into the road, and while the crash appears to have destroyed the truck, the driver reportedly escaped with nothing more than "a non-life-threatening injury to his hand." Whether or not his dignity or job remain intact after driving his truck into a bridge, though, remains to be seen. Especially since Fox 4 reports that two years ago, the city installed a curtain before you get to the bridge in an attempt to warn drivers their vehicle would be too tall to drive through safely.

Kansas City's Police Department also posted about the crash on Facebook and including these photos, along with the caption, "Officers are at the Independence Avenue Bridge. After all this, a truck driver has a non-life threatening injury to his hand."

If you live in or near Kansas City, you're probably already familiar with what the Kansas City Star calls the "truck-eating" bridge, but since many of you don't even live in Missouri, much less Kansas City, you should probably know the "undefeated champion" eats enough trucks to earn an entire Facebook page dedicated to its dietary habits. And when you try to look up this specific crash on YouTube — say, for an article you're writing about the crash that could use some footage — you'll find news report after news report of previous crashes. 

In fact, for a blog that loves stories about trucks crashing into low bridges, I'm both surprised and disappointed we haven't written about the Independence Avenue Bridge before. I mean, here's an October, 2019 report from KSHB 41 about two trucks hitting the bridge in a span of two weeks. And here's another one from November 2020, this time on KMBC 9, as well as a second report from January 2022. Fox 4 has another one from August, 2022, and KMBC 9 has yet another one from February 2024 that took place just days after the warning curtain was installed. 

Somehow, this bridge has been eating trucks on a regular basis for years, and we missed it. On behalf of everyone who works at Jalopnik and those who used to work here, I would like to formally apologize for this glaring oversight. Although, something tells me we won't have to wait long before the Independence Avenue Bridge claims another victim. Stay undefeated, infamous truck-eating bridge.