1:49 AM: A “rescue extrication” response is arriving at what Seattle Police/Fire dispatched as a car-on-side crash at 37th/Thistle. (That’s not far from HQ, and we heard it.) Multiple vehicles are reported involved.
2:04 AM: The driver is out and not seriously hurt. Two parked cars were damaged.
Thistle is blocked just east of 39th SW.
2:22 AM: Photos added. Police are investigating this as possible DUI.
2am, car flips in residential area, multiple cars damaged…DUI? Nah, couldn’t be.
This seems to happen often on this street. Might be time to add some traffic slowing features on Thistle. This highway, I mean arterial, is dangerous for the residence.
Previous one there was almost six months ago:
https://westseattleblog.com/2019/06/flipped-car-crash-reported-in-gatewood/
I know. I live there. Seems frequent enough to me. Even if there aren’t flipped cars, there is more than enough excessive speed endangering people and property.
I flipped my car in West Seattle, and all I got was this t-shirt.
And if you are arrested for suspected DUI, you usually also get a trip to King County Jail. Sadly, countywide, SIX people were booked for suspected DUI within a window of a few hours early this morning; I won’t be able to cross-reference until the online system catches up tomorrow, but the police incident was indeed coded as suspected DUI.
Yup, jail is where they definitely belong. Glad no innocents were hurt.
Looks like an older model, but based on the plates, probably new-to-them.
Why is it that that particular location of Thistle takes out DUI drivers? Is it low a spot in the vertical alignment or a slick spot that never goes away? Or are do the parked cars seem to constrict the road for some odd reason? I don’t think I’d want to park there overnight knowing what I’ve read here.
The crest would not be designed for excessive speed if that is the cause in these mishaps, due to shortened sight distance.
Welcome to West Seattle. It has been 0 days since our last car flipping.
General question as I do not drive and rarely drink: Does one’s insurance cover you if you are driving drunk and cause an accident? Seems to me to be a self-caused issue as in contributory negligence. Just curious.
It probably would. But your premiums likely would go through the roof afterwards, if you weren’t completely denied coverage outright after that. Also, isn’t it interesting the way we use the word “accident” in reference to drunk driving as by nature the word ‘accident’ is generally defined by an unexpected and unintentional incident. It would be more accurate to describe crimes like these was a ‘wreck’ or something similar.
WSB, and other news agencies, have started using “crash” instead of “accident” because some sort of negligence (drink driving, speeding, distracted driving, driving too fast for conditions) may be, and often is, the reason for the crash. Real accidents are pretty rare. Also, some outlets have stopped assigning agency to cars, and thus describing a crash caused by a driver in a car, rather than just a car itself.
Yes – general liability coverage will pay for the damage to one’s own car, as well as any others damaged by the driver’s fault … and then yes, premiums will go way up or the carrier will drop the driver entirely. “Collision” is a better word than “accident”; it is the word of choice for law enforcement precisely because it removes the moral connotation.
Unless the driver intentionally swerved toward the parked cars, then yes; I would describe it as an accident.
Aside from the fact that “accident” is a subjective word and therefore not appropriate for use in a report like this, we don’t know that he didn’t. What we heard from just down the street was impact following a horn blast. Not much traffic on Thistle at that time of night so there could have been some swerving to avoid an oncoming car.
I agree. We need to set official parameters for what constitutes a “flip”. This is a relatively exclusive club and the rules of entry should be explicitly spelled out so that future plebes know what is required of them before their attempt for inclusion.
I thought the majority of members were 180. This is a 90. A true 360 is a mighty feat — basically having to stick the landing.
Maria yes it’s only a 90, not 180. Sticking a 360 landing is quite a feat that has been done a number of times in WS.
Sorry, comment time is over.
| 27 COMMENTS