West Seattle Blog…

West Seattle traffic alert: Crash at 35th and Thistle

September 11, 2012 at 9:03 am | In West Seattle news, WS breaking news | 19 Comments

9:03 AM: Police are blocking at least part of the area because of a crash that’s hurt at least one person. More shortly.

9:14 PM UPDATE: From co-publisher Patrick Sand at the scene, someone crossing 35th was hit by a vehicle. Since they’re being transported by private ambulance, injuries aren’t life-threatening. Eastbound Thistle and southbound 35th are most affected. Photo added.

19 Comments

1. You are so fast WSB! The sirens were just going off. Thanks for keeping us informed!

   Comment by jenn — 9:07 am September 11, 2012 #

2. Just heard from my family member who is on scene – Vehicle Vs Pedestrian in the crosswalk. The car won. The victim is injured but not too seriously, luckily.

   Comment by Velo_nut — 9:10 am September 11, 2012 #

3. I was there. The pedestrian ran in front of my car waiting to turn west on to Thistle and was hit by car turning into the sun glare as the car turned south on 35th. The pedestrian was running to beat the flashing walk sign and he ran at an angle. Since I saw the driver’s face very clearly, I am sure he didn’t know he had hit someone until they rolled over his hood.

   Runner lucky he wasn’t hurt more. Seemed more worried about his iPod he was listening to.

   Bummed for the driver really. Have a safe day everyone.

   Comment by Mark — 9:46 am September 11, 2012 #

4. After the accident, SPD spent some time pulling people over for infractions at that intersection.

   Comment by bridge to somewhere — 11:20 am September 11, 2012 #

5. They had so many cars at the location, they had to put people to work.

   Comment by Mark — 11:47 am September 11, 2012 #

6. Flashing or not, It’s the drivers fault. No free turn with a pedestrian crossing the street. I hope they get their license pulled.

   Comment by Velo_nut — 12:07 pm September 11, 2012 #

7. The pedestrian was running and not in the crosswalk when hit.

   Comment by Mark — 12:36 pm September 11, 2012 #

8. Keep trolling Mark. Driver had a red light. Your argument is invalid.

   Comment by Velo_nut — 12:51 pm September 11, 2012 #

9. I’ve been out for a while so just getting into this now. This completely runs counter to our rules – don’t blame the victim (somebody went to the hospital here, for heaven’s sake) among others. If you have information for investigators, please talk to police. Our main reason for covering this was to let people know there was a crash blocking much of the intersection for a while, not to open a debate on who was to blame. Thanks. – TR

   Comment by WSB — 12:54 pm September 11, 2012 #

10. Sorry my pov has met with so much misunderstanding. I actually think this was no fault. But, I am not a cop and I did tell them what I saw happen feet from me.

    Comment by Mark — 12:57 pm September 11, 2012 #

11. I saw it after it happened, but before the police got there. Despite what happened it is really scary to see someone laying in the road obviously hurt. Good luck to the pedestrian and to the driver for getting over this.

    Comment by D-Mom — 3:35 pm September 11, 2012 #

12. hmm, I for one didn’t see Mark’s comments as being a troll or blaming the victim particularly; he was kind enough to get on the blog and offer what he saw, which I thank him for.

    Comment by bridge to somewhere — 3:43 pm September 11, 2012 #

13. I was thinking the same thing bridge. Thanks mark.

    Comment by Todd — 5:28 pm September 11, 2012 #

14. Was the pedestrian a kid trying to get to Chief Sealth on time?

    Comment by m — 10:53 pm September 11, 2012 #

15. M, this was after school had started. Our son goes to CSIHS and we had long since dropped him off and gone back home.

    Comment by WSB — 11:19 pm September 11, 2012 #

16. I feel terrible for the victim here, another victim on 35th. I hope they recover fully. I think if we all got out of our cars and walked on 35th, we’d be overcome by noise. Perhaps the pedestrian was confused by the chaos one experiences when walking on the noisy 35th corridor? I also think that any car or other vehicle turning at any part of the Thistle/35th intersection has a clear view of each of the corners of the intersection, including the sidewalks leading to the corners. How odd someone would miss a human being moving in the area where they intended to operate their 4,000 pound prosthesis. Personally, I think it is inexcusable to hit a pedestrian who allegedly darted out — as it is my own view that prudent drivers need to slow their multi-ton racing devices whenever any pedestrians are near them. Prudent drivers, in my view, know pedestrians sometime dart out, so prudent drivers proceed with caution. Clearly, one driver today did not. And coincidentally, it’s yet another injury on 35th. Add them to a long list. Was the inattentive and irresponsible driver caught up in the moment by the tendency to speed on 35th? Did 35th’s well-documented dangers contribute to the accident and injury? That road needs to go from 4 lanes to 2 with a center turn lane. I hope the victim here recovers a substantial cash payment from the inattentive driver or their insurer or both, and also explores whether 35th’s dangerous design renders the city also partially at fault. While pedestrians may share some legal blame for darting out, when people drive two ton chunks of steel at high speeds, juries tend to understand that their responsibility greatly overshadows any pedestrian’s, confused by noisy traffic or not. And given the city’s unwillingness to fix the danger that is 35th, I would bet a reasonable jury would be not very sympathetic to the city if the victim did have a cause of action against the city, too.

    Comment by Shoes required — 11:31 pm September 11, 2012 #

17. Seriously shoes? I think Thistle should be slowed WAY down but that’s not happening. Welcome to living in a city. This isn’t a regular occurrence and I am sure the person who hit the person feels terrible. It wasn’t intentional like ‘Hey I’m going to hit this person and make them roll over the hood of my car because I’m busy.’

    Comment by jeesh — 12:04 am September 12, 2012 #

18. Thanks Mark for the first hand report-the snide comment about the police was uncalled for however.

    Comment by Anne — 6:51 am September 12, 2012 #

19. The morning sun is terrible this time of year, that is at 7:30am, not 8:30am. Cars turning must be extra careful because the driver is inevitably looking in a direction opposite where he’s turning.

    Comment by U'hum — 6:02 pm September 12, 2012 #

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