Lang
6/26/25
A semi almost became the second vehicle in four days to drive into the Iowa River next to the west end of Iowa Avenue Bridge.
Few details have been released, but traffic video circulating online shows the semi travelling southbound on Riverside Drive just before 6:15 Wednesday morning when it appears to hydroplane through standing water as it tries to negotiate the Westlawn curve. The vehicle then veers left, crosses through the North Riverside Drive intersection, and continues onto the bank of the Iowa River across from Hubbard Park. The semi stopped before it fell into the river, with the trailer blocking the sidewalk that leads to the Iowa Memorial Union footbridge.
The incident occurred just three days after a 2009 Chevy Malibu drove into the Iowa River on the opposite side of the Iowa Avenue Bridge from Wednesday’s semi accident. Iowa City Police say 18-year-old Hannah Sofia of North Towne Place NE in Cedar Rapids was driving when the vehicle went into the river across from the English-Philosophy Building just after 3:00 Sunday morning. Sofia was charged with Operating While Intoxicated.
No information has been released about the driver of the semi.