Did you see either of these? Unsecured load; double hit-run

Two incident reports from readers – first, from Libby:

(Saturday) at 1:45 pm, my husband, kids, and I were merging onto I-5 south from the West Seattle Bridge. We were in the merging lane when, seemingly out of nowhere, we saw a giant wooden doghouse fly out of the back of a navy blue pickup truck and bounce onto the freeway. The body of the house bounced up 8 feet into the air and then landed behind a semi truck in the middle lanes while the roof flew onto the freeway directly in front of our car. My husband attempted to swerve to avoid it but did not want to risk getting hit by oncoming traffic in other lane so was ultimately forced to drive right over the structure which caused tremendous damage to our white Subaru Outback. We pulled over at the next exit (Michigan exit) to call 911 about the debris and the possible aftermath. We were told a state trooper would call us back to get a statement. As of (late Saturday night), no call has come our way.

We never got a license plate of the driver of the truck and would like to know if anyone else witnessed this. It happened in just seconds and we weren’t fast enough to grab plates. There were several cars behind us coming off of the West Seattle bridge to merge onto I-5 south and if anyone at all has any information we would so appreciate it.

We can be reached at 206-782-9671 call/text (Jay) or by email at sivak.jason@gmail.com

From Bethany:

Highland Park resident here, wanted to shoot you guys a heads-up about a weird hit and run outside our home to our two cars on 13th between Elmgrove and Kenyon – one car had the side mirror removed (no other damage, and the mirror is nowhere to be found, so whomever removed the darn thing either ACTUALLY removed it, or hit it and cleaned up after themselves), and the other car was hit with such force it shoved the rear wheels up onto the curb. No other vehicles on the road seem to be damaged, but there’s suspiciously little debris in the street. No bueno.

That was reported on Saturday morning.

10 Replies to "Did you see either of these? Unsecured load; double hit-run"

  • RC June 12, 2016 (5:31 am)

    Glad you’re OK but curious about the risk of a head on collision while merging onto I-5 South from West Seattle Bridge. Did this occur ON the bridge?

  • dale June 12, 2016 (8:22 am)

    Only good thing I can suggest is that this appears to be a Comprehensive claim on your auto insurance. Typically, since the cost is not prohibitive a lower deductible on your policy vs Collision. The moment the doghouse became airborne it became the definition of a “Missile”..like a tree limb falling. Also, you wont have points charged for an at fault accident if it’s paid under Comp vs Collision. 

  • Keden June 12, 2016 (9:20 am)

    I don’t think she meant head on collision.  There are two lanes merging there,  so you have to avoid the other lane of traffic, and it’s hard to see.

    • Rick June 12, 2016 (11:09 am)

      Yeah,you’re probably right. The lane to the right is supposed merge to the left but often people in the right lane hug the fog strip figuring(?) you’ll get out of the way, but there’s nowhere to go. With an old stiff neck it’s hard to keep an eye on ’em.

  • dale June 12, 2016 (10:07 am)

    Running over an object in the roadway which is stationary  is construed as a Collision claim. Striking an object (non automobile) which is moving is Comprehensive. The variance in deductibles can be several hundred dollars. 

  • Trickycoolj June 12, 2016 (10:36 am)

    I feel for you. I also experienced a stray weed trimmer on I-5 in Southcenter. Run it over or be smashed by on coming traffic is a terrible decision to have to make in that split second. Cost me a small fortune in new tires, bent rims, and a punctured AC condenser. If I would have used insurance I would have been considered at fault. Had only owned my car six months and unfortunately due to not having a car in college in the eyes of the insurance company I also had only been insured six months and was under 25. I ate every cost of someone else’s negligence. WSP never contacted me and 911 was unhelpful as soon as I said I steered out of traffic it was my problem and they hung up.  Hope you have better luck finding out who lost the dog house! I was following a semi and never saw what vehicle lost an entire weed trimmer! Never ever follow jalopy landscaping trucks. 

  • Lola June 12, 2016 (10:46 am)

    I am so tired of people who drive down our freeway’s with unsecured loads.  Where are the cops when you need them?  So sorry that you had to endure this.  I hope someone contacts you if they saw anything or got the license number. Unless they are from WS or unless they read the WS blog you may be out of luck. 

  • they June 12, 2016 (1:25 pm)

    Glad to hear your family is ok, as long as you know the time of day there will be several camera shots of this truck from where it entered the freeway to where it exited. The quality from some camera shots should be clear enough to get a plate. The hard part is to actually get this video. when a similar incident happened to me I was unable to get help from our public resources to get access to these cameras.

  • kjb June 12, 2016 (2:26 pm)

    I was involved in a hit and run on the West Seattle Bridge. No camera information was available. Police weren’t really very helpful either. So sad, I am glad you are OK.

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