Tesla Model X And Other SUVs Too Heavy For Brooklyn Bridge

That may help explain why motorists behind the wheel of certain Cadillac Escalades, Lincoln Navigators, Chevy Suburbans and other large SUVs are routinely violating weight restrictions on the Brooklyn Bridge. The iconic New York City span, which connects Manhattan and Brooklyn, has a posted weight limit of three tons.

As first noted and detailed by Treehugger, the new Tesla Model X is poised to join that dubious vehicular crowd. Curb weight of the all-electric SUV is 5,441 pounds, a Tesla Motors spokesperson tells Autoblog Green. The gross weight vehicle rating for the car is 6,768 pounds.

All this extra weight is taking its toll. The Brooklyn Bridge was among the spans flagged in a 2013 report by the Federal Highway Administration that found more than 65,000 of America's bridges were classified as "structurally deficient."

But car owners shouldn't expect to alter their travel plans any time soon. Concerns over cars violating the weight restrictions were raised a decade ago, but police officers and the New York Department of Transportation haven't enforced the limits.