No Car Has Ever Been Blown Off the Mackinac Bridge — Despite the Legend

Ask around the Straits and someone will swear that cars get blown clean off the “Mighty Mac,” the five-mile suspension bridge linking Michigan’s two peninsulas since 1957. It’s one of the most repeated bits of Michigan folklore. It’s also, according to the people who run the bridge, simply not true.

The Mackinac Bridge Authority is blunt about it: in more than 200 million crossings since the bridge opened in November 1957, no vehicle has ever been blown off by the wind. Only two vehicles in the bridge’s entire history have ever gone over the railing, and neither was lifted away by a gust.

The first was the tragedy that probably launched the legend. On September 22, 1989, Leslie Ann Pluhar, driving a tiny Yugo, went over the 36-inch railing into the Straits. People blamed the wind — but investigators found the recorded gusts (in the 35–48 mph range) were far too weak to lift a car, and concluded she’d lost control at high speed. The only other case, in March 1997, was ruled a suicide. Two terrible events, but neither was the wind tossing cars like toys.

That said, the wind is real and respected. The bridge slows high-profile vehicles like RVs to 20 mph when winds top 20 mph, escorts them when winds hit 35 mph, and closes to all traffic at 65 mph. And if you’re simply too nervous to drive it — a surprisingly common fear — bridge staff will drive your car across for you through the Driver Assistance Program.