Update: Delridge reopens after investigation of bike-truck crash

| Delridge | West Seattle news | West Seattle traffic alerts

ORIGINAL REPORT, 8:11 AM: Via Facebook, Tina says Delridge is blocked between Thistle and Trenton, and Metro has rerouted the 120 bus, saying it’s because of a crash. According to e-mail from Mary, it involved a bicycle and vehicle. We’re told the Traffic Collision Investigation Squad was called out, which means the road will be closed for a few hours (last crash they investigated in West Seattle was Sunday’s outage-triggering 47th/Charlestown car vs. pole). We’re en route to this scene, but in the meantime, if you travel south Delridge, go around that area.

8:28 AM UPDATE: At the scene. The bicycle, as shown in the photo we just added, is still in the middle of the road. Police tell us the victim is a child, taken to the hospital. A driver was “evaluated” but did not show any “sign of impairment,” according to Det. Mark Jamieson of the media-response unit. They’ll have more information later once the TCI team files an initial report.

8:58 AM UPDATE: According to Lt. Sue Stangl at the Seattle Fire Department, the victim is a 15-year-old boy and has a leg injury. The vehicle is reported to have been a pickup truck.

10:24 AM UPDATE: Delridge is open again at the crash scene. Will add to this story when police release more information as expected later.

11:08 AM UPDATE: SPDBlotter has published additional details:

On January 13th, at approximately 7:07 AM, a 15 year old male bicyclist was travelling westbound on SW Cloverdale Street, heading downhill. At the intersection with Delridge Way SW, the bicyclist did not stop at the stop sign, entered the intersection, and struck the driver’s side door of a 2000 Ford F250 truck, that was travelling south on Delridge.

The bicyclist, who was wearing a helmet, was transported by SFD Medics to Harborview Medical Center with a broken leg and a head injury.

Detectives from the Traffic Collision Investigation Squad (TCIS) responded to the location to process the scene and begin their investigation. The driver of the truck was evaluated at the scene and there were no indications of any alcohol or drug impairment. The driver was interviewed and released pending further investigation.

Idle January 13, 2011 (8:22 am)

One of the rerouted 120 buses is currently stuck on a side street by Denny Middle school. The supervisor is helping the bus navigate the narrow street. Looks like it will be moving again soon but it has been delayed for about 20 minutes.

bertha January 13, 2011 (8:37 am)

KOMO radio reported a 15 year-old ran into the side of a moving car and was transported with leg injuries.

Halyn January 13, 2011 (8:44 am)

I came upon the accident shortly after it happened. I didn’t realize the victim was a child. He was lying on the ground but moving a bit, so hopefully that’s a good sign.

I should clarify, police were already on scene and he was being tended to, I didn’t just see him and drive on.

add January 13, 2011 (9:09 am)

That area is VERY busy in the morning with all the Chief Sealth students walking, biking, being dropped off at the curbs, and getting off Metro buses. Especially in the dark, rainy mornings, and kids in dark clothing, it’s a little hairy. Please everyone – drive slowly and keep your eyes wide open.

Eddie January 13, 2011 (9:34 am)

Gotta say that the picture of the mangled bike in the road is slightly objectionable – although I can’t resolve for myself why it’s any different than the car crash pictures where they’ve peeled back the top with the jaws-of-life.

WSB January 13, 2011 (9:50 am)

Thanks, Eddie. FWIW, there’s no other way to show where this happened, and a picture does add to the understanding, IMO. We did not show the mangled bike close up (which, if any TV people went, I can almost guarantee you would be their shot), and if there was any blood in the road, we didn’t show that either. If we had been at the scene while the victim was still being tended to, we wouldn’t have shown him, another self-imposed restriction by which others don’t generally abide. Just a note that while we may still be objectionable, we try to be a little more sensitive. And it’s been an educational process for me; I remember a car crash a couple years back in which a neighborhood resident sent a boatload of photographs, and I chose to use (a) way too many and (b) one in which you could see the person lying in the road, and the reaction to that was completely understandable. I have continued to learn to view what we cover through a different prism than when I was sitting in an office downtown, not covering my own community (most of the time), not even directly involved with the coverage. Meantime – maybe this will remind somebody to slow down … TR

throughthelens January 13, 2011 (10:07 am)

Eddie, I disagree with you completely. As many people are visual learners, they need to see things in order to really digest them. There is a fine line between showing a grossly insensitive snapshot of an accident scene, and showing just enough to get the point across. It’s easy to distance ourselves from these harsh realities which then enables us to speed alone on the roads with no real understanding of what the consequences can be. I think the above snapshot stays well to the side of the line, in terms of taste. It serves it’s purpose well.

I am glad the kiddo is (relatively) okay!!

throughthelens January 13, 2011 (10:17 am)

…also, I hope that didn’t come off as snarky. It wasn’t an attack–I had just logged in and was really gratified by the tastefulness and relevance of the image.

lucky chick January 13, 2011 (10:32 am)

I think the photo is perfect. Good call, in my opinion.

RP January 13, 2011 (11:17 am)

I think the photo is perfect too. We all know Delridge is in need of a serious overhaul. The pic clearly shows that (and that’s one of the better areas)…Makes me wonder if that had anything to do with the situation, messed up road surface with rain. Until our road infrastructure can support both 4 wheel vehicles and two, we ALL need to be cautious and use common sense, especially down the ‘bottlenecked’ Delridge. (The 15-y.o. has a broken leg, according to other sources, and was said to have run into the truck. Wish him well)

WSB January 13, 2011 (11:30 am)

Our story is now updated with SPD’s additional information on the crash – they updated SPDBlotter within the past half-hour … TR

brittany January 13, 2011 (11:45 am)

man, a photo of a kids’ bike like that sends chills down the spine of this mom-of-bike riders. be safe out there, everyone!

dsa January 13, 2011 (12:01 pm)

Touchy subject, but if the boy had been driving a car the cops would have checked the condition of his brakes. I don’t know how steep the hill, but they said he was traveling downhill and failed to stop.

bls January 13, 2011 (12:25 pm)

I arrived right after the boy was hit. He was in total shock, bleeding from the right side of his face, leg apparently broken. I tried to keep him calm and still. He couldn’t tell me who to call or his name. He was crying holding his leg. It broke my heart, as my 4yo son was sleeping in my car,, as a mother seeing a child like that.the kid was in a black hoodie dark helmet .it didn’t take long for the police to Arrive The raid was horrible vision was poor. I could absoultly see how the driver of the vehicle could not of seen the boy.

Ex-Westwood Resident January 13, 2011 (12:55 pm)

I wonder if the kid is going to be ticketed for failure to stop at a stop sign?
If it was a car the did this you can d**n well sure bet that the driver would have that along with other tickets waiting for him.
What about insurance to cover the cost of the damage to the guys truck that was hit?
Now I do feel sorry for the kid. He learned a painful lesson – STOP or at least slow down at ALL intersections.

Yardvark January 13, 2011 (1:40 pm)

There’s no need to get all huffy, Ex-Westwood. I’d imagine the boy is liable and if the truck driver wanted to seek damages, he/she probably has a right to them. It seems pretty standard. But I don’t think that’s what anyone, including the truck driver, cares about at the moment.

A Biker January 13, 2011 (2:42 pm)

Ex-Westwood Resident I couldn’t agree more. No, the person liable to fix the truck is the child’s parents. While I am glad to hear it wasn’t more serious, I do think that bikers should be ticketed for such infractions. I see countless times ADULT bike riders running stop signs, red lights, cutting into traffic. There are rules of the road and they need to abide by them. As a biker myself, I worry about getting hit by doing the right thing, let along tempting fate by running lights and riding my bike carelessly. I don’t care how good of a biker you are – when it comes to you and a car, the car is always going to win.

Lola January 13, 2011 (2:53 pm)

I have seen too many bikers blow through STOP intersections too many times. When will they learn? I think if Bicyclist want to share the road with cars they need to be Taxed also. Also the wearing of dark cloths while biking they need to learn to wear reflective cloths or have a light on their bike. I hope the person on the bike has learned a lesson in proper biking from this incident, and I hope the guys truck was not too badly damaged? Yes it is awful what happened but a little knowledge goes along way for some people.

Ex-Westwood Resident January 13, 2011 (3:59 pm)

Yard,
The ONLY thing I get huffy about is the BLATANT discrimination that is conducted by SPD (from orders from the Mayor and Clowncil) when it comes to ticketing cyclists for committing the SAME infractions the motorists do.
If they want/are going to use the roads then they NEED to be held to the standard as motorists are in OBEYING traffic laws!

Ex-Westwood Resident January 13, 2011 (4:02 pm)

FYI bls, the kid WASN’T hit. He hit the truck by running through a stop sign.

I. Ponder January 13, 2011 (4:03 pm)

A child is seriously injured and several of you trolls see it as an opportunity to vent against cyclists. That you wonder whether the kid will have to pay for damage to the truck is disgusting.

Ex-Westwood Resident January 13, 2011 (4:55 pm)

These are no different than any questions or comments that would have been asked if it was a car-car accident. Just because a kid was involved shouldn’t matter.
The kid has a broken leg. He’s lucky. It could have been A LOT worse

samson January 13, 2011 (5:52 pm)

I totally agree with throughthelens and lola as they need to be visualized what is going on out there. why depend on hearing if she/he could see and hear… I have used my eyes alot.. bicycles are dangerous to me because they can get hurt, they take their own risks to get by and the result is this. I havent seen ONE respetfully cyclist to share… I dont like to see them getting hurt and saying to myself, “see what happens” which i dont mean to say this. one more thing, it is not fair for cyclists going through the red light while we, the drivers have to wait until the color of GREEN changes. Why do they do that? Cyclists, can you answer that?

DRIVERS and CYCLISTS should exchange the respect for the roads to share! it doesnt matter who’s fault. just RESPECT others. there is no you, me, or I… it is we share the road together..

Yardvark January 14, 2011 (7:08 am)

I agree that we all have to respect each other on the road. That means stop lights and signs mean the same for everyone and you always have to keep an eye out for what’s around you.

I also think we all have to respect each other in these forums. Too often, this anonymity turns otherwise good people into pathetic thugs who pretend to care about a dent in a car more than a dent in a kid. You don’t act that way in real life. Noone is that sick. Please don’t act that way here.

There are definitely solutions to using our roads safely but we obviously all need to work on together to achieve them.

lucky chick January 14, 2011 (10:14 am)

You non-cyclists (including “a biker” – I call you on that BS!) have no idea how often cyclists get ticketed. We are held to a higher standard than you because of all your whining and general discrimation against us, coupled with widespread ignorance of cycling law, including by the police. I’d list all my experiences with this, but it would take a week. Sorry for losing my patience with these people, but shut up and learn something!

Randy January 14, 2011 (6:54 pm)

I know the driver of the truck and he told me that the kid hit him in the drivers door and broke the side mirror off. He didn’t see what hit him until after he pulled over, then saw the bicycle laying in the road….His heart just stopped, until a witness told him the kid was Ok and had come down the hill to his left and never slowed down as he went into Delridge and into the side of his truck.
He was taken for alcohol and drug testing and passed without issue.

Leon Moody January 16, 2011 (8:42 pm)

Raven is out of the hospital with a titanium rod 1/2 in. thick. he will be ok.

WSB January 16, 2011 (9:15 pm)

Thank you very much for the update. As I have to say fairly often, it’s difficult to get updates after crashes unless we (a) have a victim’s name or (b) hear from someone close to the victim … but lots of people want to know if they’re going to be OK. – TR

Leon Moody January 16, 2011 (11:47 pm)

Hold on everyone. I have read some more of these blogs about the stop sign and… lets get off that.
His brakes failed because the age of the rubber, rain, and lack of experience. this whole thing about bikers vs. drivers has got to stop.
thank you
Raven’s father

Randy January 18, 2011 (9:31 am)

The driver got punished by his company for this accident and has had his driving prilviages of Company own vehicles revoked. He was demoted to working in the warehouse….Go Figure……

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