June 27, 2008

A traffic accident on Wednesday

I was heading south on I5 to an acupuncture appointment and traffic was wedged. Finally arrived at the scene of this accident. Nobody was hurt despite the spectacular appearance of the vehicle in question. I was shooting hand-held while driving so it's not the best framed of photos but that Acura is totaled. The front half was even worse with the front windshield completely flattened. The support columns did their job of protecting the driver but this was just barely.
bellingham_accident_06-25-2.jpg
From the Bellingham Herald:
Driver breaches cable median barrier on I-5
Traffic slowed to a crawl both ways on Interstate 5 north of East Sunset Drive Wednesday afternoon after a northbound car drove through the median and collided with a southbound pickup.

A 20-year-old Bellingham man was transported to St. Joseph Hospital with only minor injuries after losing control of his Nissan Acura shortly before 4 p.m. It went under the cable barrier before colliding head-on with a pickup driven by a 57-year-old Ferndale man. The pickup driver and his passenger were uninjured.

Washington State Patrol Trooper Keith Leary said the Acura driver was cited for negligent driving, though troopers have no evidence he was speeding or that drugs or alcohol were involved.

State Department of Transportation spokesman Dustin Terpening said it is rare for a vehicle to go through the cable median barrier and into oncoming traffic. Terpening said this was the first time he recalled it happening in the Bellingham area since the barriers went up in 2005.
The cable barriers are supposed to dynamically absorb the force of collision and were touted as being the best thing since sliced bread when they were installed. They don't seem to work with cars with snouty front ends... Posted by DaveH at June 27, 2008 10:16 PM
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