A trucker is dead after his big rig plummeted 200 feet off the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge early Monday and smashed onto an island below.

California Highway Patrol Sgt. Trent Cross says the driver of a rig hauling produce lost control on the westbound bridge's troublesome S-curve at about 3:30 a.m. The rig went over the side and landed on Yerba Buena Island.

The trucker died on impact.

There have been more than 42 crashes in the bridge's S-curve area since it opened Sept. 8. Cross says speed is the cause.

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The speed limit was lowered from 50 to 40 mph. Flashing lights warn drivers of the sudden curve ahead.

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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle