West Seattle Blog…

Overnight crash: Driver brings down utility pole on 35th SW

February 10, 2012 at 5:21 am | In West Seattle news, West Seattle police | 26 Comments

(Photos by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
35th SW is open again in the 4800 block, near Providence Mount St. Vincent, after being closed for a while because of an overnight crash. Christopher Boffoli covered it for WSB. He says a Prius going southbound hit a light pole – bringing it down, along with wires, which required City Light attention:

Police told Christopher the driver wasn’t hurt, but was under investigation for suspected DUI.

The crash happened just before 3 am.

26 Comments

1. Amazing that a prius could bring down a light pole and the driver is not hurt.

   Comment by Cclarue — 6:02 am February 10, 2012 #

2. Prius’s are heavier than they look due to the hybrid battery – it is around 600 pounds if I recall. Also speed trumps weight.

   Comment by Robert — 6:49 am February 10, 2012 #

3. When I used to drive that patch of road every morning to work,I’d always see cars that had been hit overnight,hit and runs,Im not at all surprised by last nights accident.Glad this person didn’t hurt or kill anyone.When will people get it?

   Comment by Alki Resident — 6:55 am February 10, 2012 #

4. Drivers complain about cyclists going slow and getting head starts on lights, then they go and do crap like this. Deaths and property damage every day is completely disproportionate to ten second perceived inconveniences and it’s time that we as a community recognize that. This is a completely unnecessary evil.

   Comment by rite — 7:17 am February 10, 2012 #

5. Suspected DUI, huh? This is why I went to two pubs last night, one in the U District (to sample Bit Time’s “Whiny the Complainer” triple IPA which was fantastic), and then another in W.Seattle, and the bus did me justice all day and night long. Just heading off to pick up my car now….

   That’s going to be expensive for them if DUI turns out to be the case. Will people never learn?

   Comment by KN — 7:22 am February 10, 2012 #

6. +1 for rite’s comment. I cycled two days this week to / from downtown, stopped at every stop sign and light as I usually do, and didn’t take out any light pole :-)

   Comment by KN — 7:24 am February 10, 2012 #

7. I also have a stereotype for a prius driver that involves intellegence and someone thinking of the enviroment.:) my first thought was prius and drunk driver doesnt even sound right..But i am impressed with the fact that the driver was not injured.

   Comment by Cclarue — 7:40 am February 10, 2012 #

8. Sorry, just noticed the drivers vs. cyclists threadjack brewing. Stops right here. You are welcome to discuss that or almost anything else in the WSB Forum, where discussions are standalone and not necessarily attached to news stories, but it has no relevance to this. Thanks! – TR

   Comment by WSB — 8:34 am February 10, 2012 #

9. For Robert – actually the Prius battery is under 100 lbs. and can be carried by one person. The Volt and the Leaf batteries, though are very heavy.
   Good to hear there’s no injuries.

   Comment by Todd — 8:53 am February 10, 2012 #

10. There is absolutely no excuse for Drunk Driving in this City with all of the public transportation available. Period. If this was in fact a DUI situation….

    Comment by Jtk — 9:19 am February 10, 2012 #

11. How is it that in the picture the damaged Prius is in the middle of the road and not against the part of the utility pole that had been struck?

    Comment by Wild One — 12:06 pm February 10, 2012 #

12. It spun around after impact, Christopher says police told him, and wound up facing 180 degrees from the direction it had been traveling in.

    Comment by WSB — 12:25 pm February 10, 2012 #

13. Public Transportation really stinks after or outside the rush hour, particularly getting to or from West Seattle. If you’re not lucky enough to catch a bus when it just happens to be at the stop when you get there, you could be talking about a 30-50 minute wait—enjoy that when it’s cold or raining without a bus shelter.

    Which is why I tend to get my drink on at home rather than trust a timely bus ride or rides back home.

    Comment by Neo-Realist — 1:00 pm February 10, 2012 #

14. So glad no one was hurt! This could have been awful! Hopefully it was just an accident and the driver wasn’t under the influence :/

    @Jtk one might even say with limited public transportation it’s still inexcusable…

    @rite wow. That is pretty much straight out of left field… and super irrelevant to what happened here. Don’t be like the MJ legalization folks… that stuff is obnoxious.

    Comment by interrobang — 1:08 pm February 10, 2012 #

15. @Neo-Realist if you have a smartphone with onebusaway loaded, you can plan for when the bus actually arrives, not hoping that it’s keeping to the schedule. Buses have GPS and onebusaway uses that info – it is a fantastic app to optimize bus use… any time of day..

    Comment by JonF — 1:28 pm February 10, 2012 #

16. Stereo type for Prius drivers??? Hmmmm

    Comment by Lolaleah — 1:50 pm February 10, 2012 #

17. @ “interrobang”: So you’re the only one who gets to pull out red herrings? What on earth does pot legalization have to do with admonishing a class of habitual fingerpointers?

    Comment by realist — 2:55 pm February 10, 2012 #

18. I live across the street, how do you hit a light pole in the middle of a block with noone around ? truely moronic I have had cars destoyed in front of my house by turd headed people like this, lets change 35 th to 2 lanes and quit talking about prius politics.

    Comment by nick worsfold — 3:43 pm February 10, 2012 #

19. @Realist it just reminds me of the same folks who hijack other threads. I’m just sick of people pulling this sort of stuff. I think you should try reading that again… perhaps involve some critical thinking…

    Comment by interrobang — 3:46 pm February 10, 2012 #

20. @rite- I don’t understand where bikes come into this story. It sounds like you are the one who should be taking a cab.

    Comment by Krm66 — 6:14 pm February 10, 2012 #

21. Why would you reduce a proper arterial down to two lanes? Some of us are sober and would like to actually get somewhere.

    Comment by Bryan T — 9:22 pm February 10, 2012 #

22. i wonder if power was disrupted. i was asleep for sure. that was several blocks away from me.

    Comment by LyndaB — 11:08 pm February 10, 2012 #

23. I live two blocks away and our power did not go out. Glad no one was hurt…if you don’t like the bus, call a cab. They run 24/7.

    Comment by RJB — 5:32 pm February 11, 2012 #

24. Make 35th 2 lanes? I’d rather they remove the on street parking and add a center turn lane so people don’t have to bob and weave. Ever try to turn left onto 35th from a residential street, trying to see past parked cars? Most people have to use the “punch it and pray” method.

    Comment by JSmith — 11:03 pm February 11, 2012 #

25. Prius’s use modern construction with crumple zones and drive cages to protect the passengers. They are far safer than the big cars of the 60′s and 70′s. I think driving has become more erratic as people feel safer in their cars.

    Comment by dhg — 2:48 pm February 12, 2012 #

26. We’ve had so many near-collisions on 35th and had to personally take care of hit pets, people, cars a few times. My best friend’s Saturn got pegged by a Honda Element so hard the Element got a flat back tire – and the driver came out still on her cell phone AND with a kid in the car. She was pissed it wasn’t a dog she hit, instead. Amazing.

    There’s no enforcement on the 35mph rule at all. It stinks, because I love living on 35th for it’s convenience to the highways for work and school and it has a lot of great neighbors, but it has gotten faster and worse over just the last year. Plus, this is winter…Summer is going to be terrible for speeding, again.

    Oy – what to do, what to do?

    Comment by BrassyMomma — 10:38 am February 13, 2012 #

Sorry, comment time is over.