Woman rescued after plunging car into Potomac River
By WTOP Staff
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WASHINGTON, DC (WTOP News) — A driver who plunged her vehicle into the Potomac River on Tuesday evening made it safely out of the water with some help from good Samaritans.
The driver and sole occupant of a Jeep was traveling on the George Washington Parkway when she ended up driving into the river between the Humpback Bridge and the Arlington Memorial Bridge. The crash happened around 6:50 p.m., according to the WTOP Traffic Center.
Video posted on X by NBC4 Washington reporter Joseph Olmo shows people helping the female driver out of the water, as a crowd near the shore applauds. A U.S. Park Police officer assisted. And a police officer appears in the frame as they exit the water.
D.C. Fire and EMS told WTOP that as the car fully submerged, the group of people on the shore helped emergency personnel rescue the woman with a line and a throw bag in the water.
The woman was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation, and is expected to be OK.
The George Washington Parkway was initially closed for the heavy rescue response, but has since reopened a single lane.
There is no guardrail between the northbound lanes of the parkway and the Potomac River where the crash occurred.
And there have been several vehicles sent sailing into the river in this exact spot over the years.
In November of 2022, one person died when their car went into the river. In April of 2019, a police pursuit ended when a robbery suspect also crashed into the river.
WTOP’s Dave Dildine contributed to this report.
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