The recent changes to the Seattle speed limit have been a long time coming, but are just an incremental step in a larger plan for safer streets. The process of setting speed limits for streets and highways is surprisingly complex. Maximum speeds are set by each state legislature, which must balance the interests of [...]
On February 22, 2004, Maria Federici was blinded and nearly killed by a piece of particle board that flew out of a rented trailer, struck her windshield and hit her in the face. The driver of the vehicle pulling the trailer had been moving all day, and failed to properly secure the particle board in [...]
Last week, the Washington Supreme Court issued a ruling in the ongoing litigation between the State and trucking companies regarding the collapse of the I-5 Skagit River Bridge in 2013. Washington Supreme Court tells trucking companies, not WSDOT, to pay for I-5 Skagit bridge collapse While Judge Steven Gonzalez’ reasoning was not completely sound and [...]
Snow is falling in the Washington mountain passes. The seasonal changes in the Pacific Northwest always seem to result in a terrible series of crashes as drivers re-learn winter weather driving. While you should always be careful behind the wheel of a car, additional measures are necessary for winter crash prevention. Winter crash prevention Check [...]
The trucking safety group Road Safe America analyzed federal crash data from 2009-2017. They found that nearly all U.S. states had increases in semi-truck crash deaths from 2009 to 2017. But Washington State has experienced the biggest percentage increase in truck crash fatalities. The five states with the largest percentage increases in truck crash deaths [...]
For several hours yesterday, a rollover truck crash on I-5 resulted in the closure of all the southbound lanes, and part of the northbound lanes. The crash occurred between Tumwater and Maytown near 113th Avenue, but affected drivers from Portland to Seattle. The Thurston County Sheriff reported that a second crash - a hit-and-run on [...]
Snow, freezing rain, and high winds are in the forecast for western Washington State this week. While that shouldn't come as a surprise - it's standard winter weather for most of the Pacific Northwest - there are always too many drivers who are caught off guard. The result is often a slew of predictable, often [...]
Off-tracking truck: Rear wheels take a different, shorter path than the front wheels when the semi truck is turning or cornering. We might think of it as "cutting the corner" of a turn. I have seen this before, with a client who was run over by the back wheels of a semi-truck turning the corner. In this [...]
Have you wondered if there have been more semi-truck crashes than usual in Washington State? In 2017, after a spate of high-profile semi crashes in Washington that resulted in serious injuries and/or closed major highways for hours, we looked into this question. The Washington State Patrol's Collision Analysis Tool shows 1087 semi crashes met the damage threshold for reporting in 2017. [...]
Update: As of October 16, there has been 798 semi truck crashes* in Washington State. At the same time last year, there had been 661. Just in the last few weeks, there have been several major collisions that caused severe injuries—and kept thousands stuck in traffic for hours. June 9: Three semi trucks collided in Blaine, Washington, just south [...]