HOUSTON—When truckers miss the warning signs posted on bridges, the consequences can be deadly.

Just few days ago, a family’s car was smashed by a piece of concrete that fell after a big truck passed under a low bridge in Houston.

They escaped with only cuts and bruises, but the accident could have easily been worse.

But it wasn’t the first time the Cottage Street bridge has caused an accident.

It was hit twice by big trucks in the last couple of months.

TXDoT engineer Clifford Halvorsen called it a “problem bridge.”

But why?

Halvorsen says the Cottage Street bridge is lower than newer ones.  It’s 14 feet, 10 inches high, while new bridges are at least 16 feet high.

TXDoT says truckers would know about it if they went through the route permit process.

But many of the 1,600 bridges in Harris County are old like the Cottage Street bridge, and they only have a 13- to 15-foot clearance.

Veteran trucker Milton Brown says when it comes to bridges, even inches matter. 

Brown says it’s imperative that truckers know the exact height of their cargo.

“Probably wasn’t paying attention to the signs, or to the movement of his cargo – whatever he was hauling, so that could be on the driver there,” Milton said of the recent accident.

Halvorsen agrees.  And he said there are plenty of warning signs.

“So there’s really no reason after five signs why a driver should be hitting this bridge,” he said.

But the driver did, and officials say it will take about $180,000 to repair the damage.

While the state does sometimes raise lower bridges, they said it’s just not cost effective to raise the Cottage Street bridge.