Update: Van flips near Madison Middle School, no serious injuries

9:43 AM: Startling sight on the sidewalk, just off the southeast corner of the Madison Middle School parking lot – an overturned van. Amy, who sent first word of the crash, says a woman and small child were inside, but both OK, and police at the scene confirmed that no one had to go to the hospital. No word how this happened; it’s the second West Seattle van flip in four days, after this one east of High Point on Saturday (no serious injuries in that one, either). Traffic is not affected, though you might want to avoid 45th/Spokane for a while, since a tow truck will have to get the van uprighted before taking it away.

5:09 PM UPDATE: Official info from police is finally in. Another driver is blamed for causing the rollover by “failing to yield the right of way at the intersection” – and that driver, NOT the driver of the van that rolled, was cited, police tell WSB.

Alki Area October 4, 2011 (10:07 am)

How? How in the world do you flip a van at 20mph? Do we need to get Myth Busters in on this…I’d love to see how they did this.

WSB October 4, 2011 (10:17 am)

As was the case on Saturday, the roads are slick. Both crashes were in spots where abruptly hitting the brakes (CAVEAT: NOT THAT ANYONE HAS SUGGESTED THAT WAS INVOLVED) could be a factor. Or not. Glad everyone was OK and according to what I heard at the scene, appropriately belted/car-seated. – TR

madison parent October 4, 2011 (10:19 am)

I’m not suprised it was totally crazy again there this morning for drop off. They need to enforce a system. Kids are being dropped off across all the streets…running out into traffic, bus can’t get to sidewalk due to parents parked in bus zone. Parents speeding off after dropping kids.

Lorelee October 4, 2011 (10:29 am)

People drive too fast getting to & from Madison. We need speed bumps and stop signs in this neighborhood! Lots of kid-walkers; neighbors; dogs and speeders- accident waiting to happen.

G October 4, 2011 (10:34 am)

Slow down people! A live a block away and the driving I see from distracted parents is frightening, barreling through intersections without looking and driving way too fast.

Nick October 4, 2011 (10:38 am)

How did that even happen there? Not a very high-speed location.

Jen October 4, 2011 (10:43 am)

The assumption is always speed. Usually, it’s wrong. You can clip a bumper at an angle at 5 mph to achieve this result. More likely distracted driver(s).

GAnative October 4, 2011 (11:05 am)

I’ve been driving my children to Madison for 3 yrs with 3 more yrs to go and my personal favorite is the parent that drops off in front of the school and then does a 10 point u-turn rather than drive around the block.

There needs to be a 4-way stop at each corner around the school.

Alki Resident October 4, 2011 (11:06 am)

That street in front of school which I think is 45th ,needs to be one way and the badly seen crosswalk lines needs to be taken off the street so its not used anymore.We’ve been going there only a month and Im already shaking my head at how unorganized the traffic is.

furor scribendi October 4, 2011 (11:11 am)

On the picture, note the big dent in the sliding door, between the wheelwell and the open driver’s door, probably punched in from a another car’s front end. Just enough punch to tip it over. These are very scary crashes – – prayers to the parent and child inside!

furor scribendi October 4, 2011 (11:16 am)

Also want to note: In 2008 a bus leaving Madison MS clipped my car and kept on going – not coincidentally the same morning my daughter learned all the expletives from yours truly. I was stopped on Spokane just east of school – – so drive defensively and watch out for the big yellow speeders, too.

LyndaB October 4, 2011 (11:25 am)

We need some more eye witness accounts. I still can’t figure how it can happen. For reals.

celeste17 October 4, 2011 (11:29 am)

I can just hear the conversation now: Ah honey, I was dropping junior off at school and I don’t know how it happened but um, um, I kind of flipped the van. Little Jane and I are alright though.

Alison October 4, 2011 (11:49 am)

I agree with the comment that we need a four-way stop at the intersection of 45th and Spokane Street. That area is incredibly chaotic at the start and end of school. The morning drop off is especially tricky because of distracted and rushing drivers. As the days grow shorter all those children are more vulnerable than ever.

Star 55 October 4, 2011 (12:02 pm)

When the school was under remodel it was requested that both ends of 45th SW have 4 way stop signs. This city said that there had not been enough “serious” accidents to warrant 4 way stops.

@45thandSpokane October 4, 2011 (12:19 pm)

We live very close to the intersection, and I couldn’t agree more with the comments that more traffic control/speedbumps/stop signs are needed. We regularly hear screeching brakes from near misses there. I have come to treat the intersection as a 4 way stop, even when I’m coming from the direction without the yield signs. I encourage others to do the same. My heart sunk when I saw the picture–so glad everyone is OK, and that no one was walking on the sidewalk at that moment.

alki bum October 4, 2011 (1:30 pm)

Oh stop complaining. most of you speed through there yourselves.

Gene October 4, 2011 (1:56 pm)

I was walking to the bus stop as this was happening, and this was what I was able to hear/see. There was some screeching of tires, and then a crunch. I looked behind me to see the van slowly flip onto its roof. There were 2 children in the car. The driver was able to get out of the vehicle before I arrived to the scene. Both children were helped out of the van. One bystander already called 911. There were plenty of witnesses and help around, so I continued to the bus stop. By the time my bus came, the police and fire department arrived at the scene.

tk October 4, 2011 (2:24 pm)

I think we all deserve to know exactly how this happened so we know how to keep our children safe!

justme October 4, 2011 (2:28 pm)

My son just got home from school. He was evidently a direct eye witness and saw a yellow truck with canopy hit this car and take off immediately after. I guess we should call the police department.

justme October 4, 2011 (2:35 pm)

more information from my son: He recalls the yellow truck who hit the van was traveling west bound on Spokane street. Right after hitting the van the yellow truck then took a sharp left and headed south on 45th. We’ve telephoned the police station but are not able to get through right now.

tk October 4, 2011 (3:00 pm)

a yellow truck won’t be hard to find!!!!!!

WSB October 4, 2011 (3:27 pm)

I’ve got an inquiry out to police, again, to see if the hit-run allegation is true … TR

ws1 October 4, 2011 (3:33 pm)

People do U turns there all the time. They should just drive up, drop off and continue straight! And half the time it is someone in a large lurching vehicle that cannot execute the U turn, then has to back up and try again!!

Rob October 4, 2011 (4:51 pm)

I love when I see a photo of a car accident and all I can think is ” how in the heck did they do that?”

WSB October 4, 2011 (5:13 pm)

FINALLY I have official info from police. Another vehicle is blamed for causing this – and it was NOT a hit-and-run, according to the SW Precinct. They say a different driver was cited for failure to yield at the intersection. NOT the van driver, who was blameless. No further detail on circumstances, but the citation for a different driver is the final word here – TR

Madison Student October 4, 2011 (5:20 pm)

Interesting, I didnt really hear any crashes or sirens……

Madison Student October 4, 2011 (5:22 pm)

I can see why this afternoon, there were lots of Madison Staff outside watching over us.

LyndaB October 4, 2011 (5:48 pm)

Thanks, TR. That helps explain a lot.

Meredith Kercher Is Not Forgotten October 4, 2011 (6:26 pm)

Too many times I see people blasting through unmarked intersections without slowing down. By law, a driver is required to yield to the car on the right.

Fairly simple concept, too few grasp it.

Scandinavian October 4, 2011 (6:50 pm)

Git me one of thim big tall vehikles. I kin see evryone an if yous hits me i is invinsible.

Ronnie October 4, 2011 (6:56 pm)

To @45th and Spokane: You said that you treat that intersection like a four way stop. If you are truly doing that, then you’re part of the problem. It is NOT a four way stop. If you are on 45th, you have to yield to traffic on Spokane, period. If you are on Spokane, you should NOT stop at that intersection to let people go. Stopping when you have the right of way is not courteous, it is confusing and dangerous. If you stop at a yield sign and there is cross traffic, you have to stay there until the cross traffic clears. Period.

Ronnie October 4, 2011 (7:03 pm)

When I first heard about this accident, I told my wife that I can almost guarantee that it was caused by somebody traveling on 45th who ignore the yield sign. Looks like that’s what happened. I approach that intersection on Spokane every morning and even though I have the right of way I am always on the look out and at least 3 or 4 times a week I have drivers ignore the yield sign and pull out in front of me. Either that or they stop and think that because they got there first they have the right of way. It’s really not rocket science. I don’t see what is so confusing about it. The word “Yield” seems fairly self explanatory.

Wes October 4, 2011 (7:08 pm)

It’s not that there is not enough accidents it’s also considered a fire route for the fire department. I have so many times asked for an island or 4 way stop. Last month their were two accidents on 45th and Hinds. Also there are never cops around and nobody drives 25mph when kids are not around and they do not drive 20 when kids are present.
Again it’s 25mph on the side streets not 30 or 40. And don’t be pissed if we tell you so as you speed by, it’s the law.

liveherenow October 4, 2011 (9:02 pm)

Awesome to have so many Madison MS parents here in one place. I have a favor to ask you. Please tell your kids to stop using the sidewalks up and down California as the trash can for the snacks they buy at 7-11 after school. Thanks.

Stuck In Traffic October 4, 2011 (9:20 pm)

I have been driving for 45years and have never be close to turning a car on it’s top. Speed has to be a factor of one vehicle or the other. If both drivers are doing the posted speed limit 20mph school zone,AND PAYING ATTENTION body damage at the most!!
Drivers have gotten to the point that “my time is more important than yours” u turns in the middle of California Ave. anytime of day is the normal, Unsafe, illegal,
Driver like your life depends on it, because it does. Defence not offence

moji October 4, 2011 (9:58 pm)

Same intersection where my mom and my son got T-boned as she was driving him to Schmitz Park about 8 years ago. Unlicensed, uninsured speeding motorist failed to yield and flipped his Ford Ranger over the hood of my mom’s little Toyota. Nobody was hurt then either, but my now 17 year old son still carries over a little PTSD from that event. At least he insists on being *extra* careful going through intersections. Hope the mom & kids in the van don’t have nightmares — car wrecks are scary!!

george October 5, 2011 (11:50 am)

Both ends of 45th at Madison MS should have stop signs, not yields. Stop the traffic, not slow it down. SiT, I’m sure if you strike a curb just right at 15mph, you can roll a car (its about 1/2 revolution, not a wild flip, once momentum is attained, it doesn’t take much.)
@Recall McGinn, the rule is the first car at an intersection has the right of way, not necessarily the car to your right. When both cars enter at the same time, the car to the right has the ROW. hth.

grrules October 5, 2011 (12:38 pm)

@george: the “first come, first go” rule applies to all way stop intersections, NOT to uncontrolled intersections. At intersections not controlled by lights or signs you are to yield to traffic coming in from the right. Time to brush up on some of those pesky rules of the road, I think.

(Of course, the intersection in the event described in the story, however, was not an uncontrolled intersection as there was a yield sign.)

george October 5, 2011 (6:22 pm)

grrules, looks like you’re the one who needs the brushup. From WA DOL driver manual pg. 41:

“At an intersection where there is no stop sign, yield sign, or traffic signal, drivers must yield to vehicles in the intersection and to those coming from the right.”

hth

@45thandSpokane October 6, 2011 (9:45 am)

Yes, I should have said, I treat it as a 4 way stop *first* and then I yield to the east/west traffic coming on Spokane. The point was just not to assume, even if you have the right of way, that ANYONE will be yielding to you! I know that this could be adding confusion when there is a car that actually is yielding, but I’m not willing to risk getting hit by one of the many drivers that plows through that intersection.

As per city website, I wrote an email to “traffic.signals@seattle.gov” to request a 4 way stop there. Perhaps other likeminded WSB commenters will do the same!

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