Video: Admiral reopened; one rescued from overturned car

(see bottom of story for next-day updates)

ORIGINAL 9:41 PM REPORT: There’s an overturned car near Admiral and 48th. It appears to be a single vehicle, overturned in the eastbound lane of Admiral. One person has been taken out of the car and moved to the medic unit. Admiral still blocked in both directions.

9:55 PM UPDATE: The street is being hosed down. So far it appears that the one person removed from the car and taken to the hospital was the only person in the car.

10:06 PM UPDATE: Admiral now open to traffic. The car is off to the side and traffic is moving slowly in both directions.

10:31 PM UPDATE: Just left the scene a few minutes ago; the wrecked car was still there, in the outside eastbound lane just west of 49th. We talked to people at the scene; nobody saw what happened – thanks to the people in the house right over the crash scene for allowing us to share their landing to shoot video of the rescue efforts, which we will add shortly. No word yet exactly why the car crashed, nor do we know the driver’s condition.

ADDED 10:57 PM: That video clip shows the rescue scene just before the man was pulled out of the car and taken to the medic unit by gurney. We’ll add one more showing the car from the other side of the street (11:25 – here’s that clip, from after the man was pulled out:)

And one side note – we’ve noticed at recent crash/crime scenes that red battery-operated lights are used instead of flares – in this case we were close enough to get a little video of them:

MONDAY MORNING UPDATE: Fire Department spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen tells WSB the crash survivor is a 60-year-old man who was taken to the hospital with “non-life-threatening injuries.” We’re about to check with police to see if they have anything more on the investigation. 4:38 PM UPDATE: Detective Jeff Kappel with the SPD media unit says the preliminary – and we stress, preliminary – finding of investigators is that the driver apparently fell asleep at the wheel.

JanS June 21, 2009 (10:21 pm)

wow…how does one do that?

Karl June 21, 2009 (10:28 pm)

Possibly rode up the lamp pole, hit the retaining wall, flipped, and spun?

WSB June 21, 2009 (10:36 pm)

Some at the scene observed there were no skid marks; my young assistant (Torin and I were just leaving Metropolitan Market, half a mile away, when we heard the sirens, checked 911 on the iPhone and rolled westward) said the person rescued from the car appeared to be an older man, white hair, white mustache. We may not be able to get official information from police till the morning. Will be adding some more visuals here shortly – TR

living in west seattle since 1985 June 21, 2009 (11:14 pm)

scary

ScubaO2 June 21, 2009 (11:33 pm)

I hope he’s going to be alright, my thought’s are with him and the family

M. June 22, 2009 (12:01 am)

I wonder if driver was speeding.Remember,the speed limit is 30.I hope the best for him.

celeste17 June 22, 2009 (12:47 am)

I always go 30 on that road. I come off of the bridge and get into the right lane. I always hope for a police officer to be checking speeds when someone passes me at excessive speed.

JayDee June 22, 2009 (7:43 am)

That little stretch of Admiral seems to be a magnet for car crashes–I have seen more than one car crash there mainly on the east side of the street. That’s one of the reasons there is no longer a bus shelter at that location. Maybe the rain was a contributing factor? All those days without rain and a buildup of oil?

Huh June 22, 2009 (1:07 pm)

So that’s why a cop went scream up 30th and SW Hinds to Admiral, followed by ten other emergency vehicles with sirens blaring.

revsharp777 June 22, 2009 (2:31 pm)

I live directly across the street from the house where the car stopped. My wife & I were on the phone with 911 within seconds after we heard the car crash. Within a minute, at least 30 people (neighbors, passerbys, people parking their cars to get out & help) were on the scene doing whetever we could to help the man. We did manage to manage to bust out a window to communicate with the driver. I ran back to the house to get some knives because someone was trying to cut the seatbelt. My neighbor did speak the driver, so he was concious. She told me that she actually heard 2 explosions. It makes me wonder if the 1st was a tire blowout followed by the out of control car crash. There were no skid marks or signs of any impact. With 3 minutes of our call, 6 police & fire vehicles were on the scene. Within 10 minutes, there were 10-12 emergency vehicles.

It was really great to see the community come together & work so quickly to help this man. It’s just unfortunate that this happened on Father’s Day. It was a 60-year old w/ a handicap placard…of all the days. I really hope he’s ok.

Thanks to everyone that was there helping in any way they could.

WSB June 22, 2009 (3:22 pm)

Great job, Good Samaritans. Even though we were right behind the fire trucks, we weren’t there in time to see that, so I’m glad to hear your account. Police are looking into it for me this afternoon to see if there is anything in the report yet about the possible cause … no word yet but I will either update this story or publish a short new one when I hear back – TR

revsharp777 June 22, 2009 (4:52 pm)

Yeah, it was really strange to hear the car crashing without any sort of tire schreeching. When I walked out of my house to investigate, I was expecting to see a blown up power transformer. For those who’ve heard one blow up before, that’s exactly what it sounded like. Then, I heard the horn blaring & saw the car as we rounded the corner. People came running from everywhere to help out.

I’ve lived here for just under 2 years, but several neighbors were talking about how this section of street seems to be a magnet for accidents. At 49th & Admiral, you have many streets & a crosswalk intersecting in an area where Admiral is pretty steep & swirvy. Hopefully, the city will eventually take notice & make it a bit safer.

NyteMusic June 22, 2009 (6:08 pm)

I keep wondering why they didn’t install a crosswalk signal there, like they did up at the viewpoint. Seems like a no-brainer. Was it just a budgetary issue?

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