By Caleb Hutton
Updated at 6 p.m. See bottom of this post.
A rollover crash on northbound Interstate 5 on Monday evening, Nov. 26, sent one woman to St. Joseph hospital with minor injuries and caused a long traffic jam south of the Sunset Drive exit.
Rollover crash at NB I-5 & Sunset. Unknown injuries. Expect delays and keep an eye on the WSDOT traffic cams. #bellingham
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) November 27, 2012
Long backups from NB I-5 rollover crash near Sunset. Here’s a shot from the Iowa St exit, courtesy of @wsdot_traffic twitter.com/bhamcrime/stat…
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) November 27, 2012
Dispatchers unsure if there’s anyone trapped. Ambulances en route.
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) November 27, 2012
It’s a two-car crash, blocking one lane of NB I-5, a little south of Sunset. Here’s the view from the Lakeway exit. twitter.com/bhamcrime/stat…
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) November 27, 2012
At this point, we heard a report of a 20-year-old “slumped over on the ground” at the scene. That didn’t sound good.
But Washington State Patrol Trooper Mark Francis told me minutes later all injuries were minor. One person was taken by ambulance to St. Joseph hospital as a precaution.
@wastatepatrol trooper reports one person taken to hospital w/minor injury in I-5 crash. Crash blocked left lane. twitter.com/bhamcrime/stat…
— Bellingham Crime (@bhamcrime) November 27, 2012
Traffic was still stalled more than a half hour later.
Update: Here’s the narrative, as told by Trooper Francis:
A Chevy Cavalier was tailing a Ford Mustang at 5 p.m. in the left lane of northbound I-5, just south of Sunset Drive. The Ford slowed for traffic up ahead. The Chevy didn’t slow down in time.
The Chevy driver swerved left to avoid a rear-end crash. But it clipped the back left corner of the other car. The Chevy flipped and went hurtling into a cement barrier.
One person in the Chevy was taken to St. Joseph hospital with neck pain. Nobody else was hurt.
I’m glad the Chevy driver wasn’t seriously injured, but honestly people, THIS IS WHY YOU DON’T TAILGATE.
We have speed limits for a reason and tailgating to get someone to move over because you want to drive faster is not defensive driving. I you can get a ticket for following too close. I’m assuming the person driving the Chevy was wanting to go faster unless they do not understand good driving habits. I agree with C’s comment.
I completely disagree, based on the fact that this is my sister. I feel as if she is being tried in the media, which is unfair to her and to the entire legal process. She was not tailgating, the person came from a complete stop into her lane on the freeway! Do any of you have the ability to come to a complete stop from 60 miles per hour in a literal second?! In addition, “C” you do not have to use ALL CAPS to get your point across, as misguided as it may be. Let’s keep our minds open here folks, and not rush to (mis)judgement.
In 2002, at 19, I rear ended a vehicle in the same area. The road conditions were similar, although it was during the day. I was cited for following too close. I was able to get this dismissed in court by some mathematical voodoo…and because the officer who wrote the ticket didn’t witness the accident and didn’t come to the hearing.
I learned WAS following too closely, especially for the conditions. The Cadillac in front of me had to slow abruptly for a vehicle that cut him off, and I didn’t see this because I was checking my blind spot to pass. I slammed on my brakes and skid right into the Cadillac on the wet pavement, crumpling my front end. A few extra feet of distance between us may have avoided the accident.
It doesn’t matter who you are. Increasing following distance and compensating for speed helps prevent accidents. Humans are not computers and are unable to compensate for changes immediately. Ever notice how traffic likes to travel in clumps, mindlessly tailgating one another? Yeah. We do that. Pay attention, and please try to stop driving with aggression or sheer inattentiveness – especially when you have children in the car.
Consider that driving 70mph in a 60mph zone will only subtract approximately 1.5 minutes from your 10 mile trip – roughly the distance on I5 from Slater to Fairhaven Parkway – and that’s assuming you don’t have other traffic or obstacles in your way.
Driving is one of the most complicated tasks a human can perform. Think about that the next time you prepare to operate your vehicle.