Seattle Injury Blog

On Friday, a log truck broke apart and spilled its load east of Marysville. Six people were taken to the hospital.

Washington State Patrol trooper Keith Leary said that the Marysville truck accident occurred around 2 p.m. on Getchell Road near the intersection with 99th Avenue NE. He also said that the truck's brakes malfunctioned and appeared to have locked up and the back axle of the truck's trailer broke away, sending logs into the road.

According to Leary, the commercial truck caused an SUV to roll over into a ditch when the SUV apparently tried to avoid the logs. Getchell Fire Chief Travis Hots said that all six people in the SUV were taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Snohomish County sheriff's deputies and the troopers with the commercial vehicles unit of the State Patrol were investigating.

This was the second log truck accident in the past 2 days in east Snohomish County. On Thursday a truck spilled a load of logs on Highway 530, though no one was injured in that crash.

If you are seriously injured in an automobile accident, or someone you know is injured or possibly even killed, call the personal injury attorneys at Bernard Law Group, 1-800-418-8282. We can help you immediately. All e-mail and form submissions will be responded to by a qualified and knowledgeable member of our firm within 24 hours. Call our toll-free number 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and we promise to respond immediately.

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A three vehicle crash near Snohomish Tuesday morning occurred. Following the crash involving a PUD line truck, a woman was airlifted to a Seattle hospital after the accident.

Snohomish County Fire District 4 Battalion Chief John Hinchcliff said that the accident occurred at approximately 7:30 a.m., near the intersection of Dubuque Road and Creswell Road.

Hinchcliff said that the injured woman was in a small passenger car. As a result of the accident, she was flown by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Her condition was not immediately available.

Continue reading "PUD Line Truck Accident Injures Woman" »

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Two teenage girls were hit by a pickup truck Friday night in Lynnwood, according to the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office. One girl died as a result of the accident.

Sheriff's Capt. Kevin Prentiss said that a white Ford Ranger was heading east about 11:10 p.m. in the 3300 block of 164th Street SW in Lynnwood. It then jumped a curb and hit the two girls on the sidewalk. One of the girls died at the scene.
The other girl, a 16-year-old from Lynnwood, was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. There she was treated for injuries that were not considered life-threatening.

The 32-year-old driver of the truck, from Snohomish, and his passenger, a 26-year-old Mill Creek woman, were also taken to Harborview. Their injuries were not considered life-threatening. Printiss said that the driver in the truck accident was not cited or arrested.

Continue reading "Teenage girl struck and killed by pickup in Lynnwood" »

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An Everett man died when two big trucks smashed into each other on Highway 526 early Friday morning.

Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said that the crash happened about 4:15am.

A tractor-trailer heading east was pulling through the intersection at Everett Mall Way onto Highway 527 when it apparently was hit broadside by a northbound rig. That truck was not hauling a trailer.

The Everett man was ejected from his cabin during the truck accident and died at the scene.

Continue reading "Big rig crash leaves Everett man dead" »

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A 60-year-old man was cycling around Bainbridge Island, riding down Highway 305, when he merged into the left turn-lane. He remembers a vehicle coming up quickly to the left, behind him.

"As a biker knows, when you see something like that it's a really bad thing. It shouldn't have been there and it shouldn't be overtaking me. I should have been the farthest left of everybody," he said.

According to police, the 23-year-old female driver hit him, then ran over his head. She then stopped the car, took a look at the injured cyclist, and then drove off.

Luckily, there were witnesses who stopped and described the driver to police. At the time of her arrest, it appeared she had been driving under the influence and there was evidence of alcohol in the car.

"I knew something bad had happened. I knew I had been in a bicycle accident apparently," he said about the moment he came to in the ambulance.

Continue reading "Cyclist hit by truck miraculously survives" »

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A train and semi-truck collided in Marysville early Monday. Minor injuries occurred when the train derailed.

At approximately 6 a.m., the Seattle truck accident occurred around 130th and State streets. The driver of the semi-truck suffered some minor injuries, said Marysville Fire Department Battalion Chief Scott Goodale. As a precaution, he was transported to Providence Everett Medical Center's Colby Campus. None of the train crew suffered injuries.

According to King5.com, two train engines were derailed, but the rest of the train still on the track. . Marysville Fire Department crews were at the scene investigating the accident, where debris from the train was strewn about 500 yards along the track.

Amtrak service to and from Vancouver, B.C., will be affected. Contact Amtrak for the latest train schedule.

If you are seriously injured in a Washington automobile accident, or someone you know is injured or possibly even killed, call the personal injury attorneys at Bernard Law Group, 1-800-418-8282. We can help you immediately. All e-mail and form submissions will be responded to by a qualified and knowledgeable member of our firm within 24 hours. Call our toll-free number 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and we promise to respond immediately.

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The family of Charles McDonald, a truck driver who died when a propane hose leaked and caught fire while he pumped propane from his truck into Atlas Foundry Limited Partnerships tanks, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in superior court Tuesday. They allege that Atlas Foundry employees didn't use proper clamps when they helped McDonald reattach a disconnected hose before he began pumping the propane.

McDonald’s body was mostly burned by the first of two explosions. He took cover near a metal shed before the 8,000-gallon truck blew apart, propelling an axle hundreds of feet in the air in a massive burst. Additionally, pieces of metal rained down on people nearby. Covered in black soot, employees ran from the fire.

Four people besides McDonald were injured. McDonald was found by medics behind the shed two hours later and airlifted him to Harborview Medical Center. The 64-year-old died Oct. 16.

"The negligence of the Atlas Foundry employees led to the initial release of propane gas that rapidly enveloped Charles McDonald," said John Christensen, the family's lawyer. He faulted the employees for using clamps not meant for high-pressure propane.

Continue reading "Lawsuit by family of man who died in Tacoma gas explosion" »

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Gabriel Koloszar, Paulo Aguilar, and two friends were driving home Labor Day weekend 2002 when the U-Haul trailer they were pulling caused their Ford Explorer to flip and roll off the side of the freeway. Both Koloszar and Aguilar were severely injured in the accident and required multiple surgeries. The two were left with hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills. Koloszar and Aguilar proceeded to sue U-Haul citing that the trailer they had rented had a worn tire that suddenly deflated causing the Explorer to veer left. After months of attempts made by Koloszar and Aguilar’s lawyers to examine the trailer’s parts, U-Haul finally reported that the parts had gone missing. The company stated in court documents that a former employee had stolen the tire and rims. Unfortunately, this was not the first time U-Haul had lost evidence pivotal in a suit against the company.

Over the last 20 years, U-Haul has been sued more than 10,000 times. Out of those suits, the Los Angeles Times found 11 instances where U-Haul had lost, altered, or discarded important evidence. In some cases, U-Haul scrapped or repaired the damaged parts despite court orders to keep the evidence preserved. U-Haul defends its practices stating that it has strengthened its evidence protection policy in recent years; however, they did not provide a copy of that policy when it was requested by the Times.

Koloszar and Aguilar’s lawyers stated that the missing evidence was “convenient.” Citing past cases where the company had lost important evidence, Koloszar and Aguilar’s lawyers asked the Kern County Superior Court Judge Louis P. Etcheverry to punish U-Haul. The Judge cited U-Haul with extreme negligence and said he would impose sanctions before the trial. With the threat of trial sanctions, U-Haul decided to settle with Koloszar and Aguilar one week before trial was to begin.

Click here to read the full article published by the Los Angeles Times.

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An elderly couple was killed late Wednesday morning when their vehicle collided with a commercial logging truck. According to the Washington State Patrol, the minivan, driven by an 80 year old man from Olympia, ran a stop sign at the intersection of SR-7 and the Eatonville cutoff. Traveling at around 55 mph, the minivan collided into the truck causing it to lose its 100,000 pound load of logs. According to troopers on the scene, the van was dragged around 70 feet while logs from the truck spilled crushing the van. Witnesses said there was nothing the truck driver could do to avoid the accident. The driver’s 77 year old wife, who was a passenger in the minivan, also died in the accident. The driver of the logging truck was not hurt.

Source Article: http://www.komotv.com/news/7749297.html

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Four times during the month of May tires have fallen off commercial trucks while driving on Northwest area freeways. A Bothell man was killed May 11th when a semi truck, driving northbound on I-5, lost several of its tires colliding with the victim’s van. On May 13th several cars driving on I-90 near Fall City were hit with wheels lost by another commercial vehicle. The third truck accident happened May 29th when a semi driving on I-90 in Issaquah lost two tires. One of the tires hit a car, causing no injuries. The second tire landed on a roof of a nearby home causing some property damage. Thankfully during the most recent incident, which occurred this past Wednesday, the tires bounced off into the shoulder causing no accidents or injuries. The truck was driving northbound on I-5 near Michigan Street and was in the far right hand lane of the freeway. According to the Washington State Patrol it is not clear why the tires fell off the vehicle.
Source Article: http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_053007WABtiresofftruckTP.2709d964.html

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Highway 101 was closed for several hours near the Mason-Jefferson County line Monday night when an SUV and a commercial tanker truck collided. The two vehicles exploded into flames killing the driver of the SUV. The victim was later identified as Ronald Alness of Hoodsport. The first responders to the accident stated that the flames were so intense they could not get close to the wreckage. Firefighters were able keep the flames from igniting the tanks on the commercial vehicle.

Article Source: http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_060507WABbrinnontankerfire_ID_SW.1b64472c.html#

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Just as the morning commute began, a semi tractor trailer heading westbound on I-90 overturned blocking all lanes of the freeway. The accident occurred at 6:45 a.m. just west of the Mount Baker tunnel. Fortunately, traffic was able to get past the overturned semi by driving on the shoulder of the freeway. Approximately 45 minutes after the truck accident occurred, the Washington State Department of Transportation pushed the semi to the side of the road allowing traffic to pass on several more lanes of the freeway. This accident is currently still under investigation.

http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_051607WABsemi_rolloverJM.74f1bf7e.html

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