Photo by Andertho.

The driver of a tractor-trailer that sent a car off the Chesapeake Bay Bridge into the water below this July looked at his driver-side mirror before the accident occurred, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report.

According to the report, the 29-year-old driver said “he had turned his attention to the driver-side mirror due to lights and sounds behind him.”

He said that when he looked forward again, he saw that traffic was stopped, and he attempted to avoid colliding with the Chrysler by moving to the left but could not avoid the collision. Weather conditions were clear and dry, and it was near sunset at the time of the accident. All vehicles involved in the accident were inspected, and no mechanical defects were found.

Morgan Lake, a college student in hers 20s, was inside the car that plunged off the Bay Bridge. She swam to safety and sustained minor injuries.

The report notes that the driver, who emigrated from Hungary to Canada, was making his first trip “in the United States without being paired with a more experienced driver.”