UPDATE: Deadly crash on NB 99 north of downtown

1:55 PM: If you have to head north of downtown any time in the next few hours, you’ll want to avoid Highway 99. It’s closed north of the Aurora Bridge because of a deadly crash involving a flipped car. Initial emergency-radio reports – and a text from a WSB reader who was there right after it happened – were that one person was dead at the scene, at least one other with life-threatening injuries.

4:09 PM: NB traffic is still being diverted, at last report onto Bridge Way. The Seattle Times reports the incident involved a woman driving onto a sidewalk and hitting 4 pedestrians, one of whom was killed.

6:15 PM: NB Aurora remains closed. SPD has published this update on the case, saying the driver will be booked into jail for investigation of vehicular homicide.

6:27 PM: SDOT has just announced the scene is clear.

Sandra November 29, 2019 (5:05 pm)

We saw a woman walking away from the accident scene, then later we saw her in handcuffs and leaning against a police car. She may have been the driver who hit the pedestrians(?)

WSB November 29, 2019 (6:00 pm)

There was much emergency-radio discussion of a “suspect.” And now SPD Blotter has been updated saying the driver would be booked:
https://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2019/11/29/detectives-investigating-friday-afternoon-fatality-collision-in-fremont/

CAM November 29, 2019 (6:40 pm)

I passed this on the way back from Ballard this afternoon and based on the condition of the car I’m amazed anyone walked away from this. The car was on its side and backwards up against the barrier. Thank goodness it wasn’t a larger tragedy. And of course immediately after passing it the person behind me went whipping by at least 15 mph over the limit.

bolo November 29, 2019 (8:54 pm)

“Vehicular homicide” sounds serious. Does it mean someone purposefully used their vehicle to kill?

WSB November 29, 2019 (9:06 pm)

Here’s the state law defining it:
https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.61.520
wscommuter November 29, 2019 (9:24 pm)

Basically vehicular homicide means causing a death either because a person drives recklessly (“in wanton and willful disregard for the safety of others”) or because the person was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Jtk November 29, 2019 (9:19 pm)

Everything is an assumption before the driver is questioned and sentenced or not. Maybe they had a medical emergency themselves? What happened to, people are innocent until proven guilty. ?

Rick November 30, 2019 (7:10 am)

Keyboard warriors are all knowing, don’t ya know?
MW November 30, 2019 (8:45 am)

I think when you hit 4 people and then get out of your car and run, that kinda takes away the innocent argument
- ITotallyAgreeWithYou November 30, 2019 (1:08 pm)
  
  … and hide in a bush. Also she was handcuffed and given a field sobriety test, not taken to the hospital for her own medical needs because she had none. There is nothing wrong with using deductive reasoning based on the information provided. Common sense gets stronger the more you practice it.
Elana November 30, 2019 (4:46 pm)

Yes, they had a “medical emergency” when they decided to flee the scene and hide from authorities in the bushes.

Frequent pedestrian November 29, 2019 (9:19 pm)

I passed through this today. It makes me so angry. There is NEVER a reason to drive impaired. You live in a city where people are waiting to drive you around.

Mj November 29, 2019 (10:27 pm)

Jtk – a motorist who hits a pedestrian and then tries to evade the police deserves no mercy. They must be guilty of something otherwise why try to run?

KM November 30, 2019 (8:07 am)

We have a pedestrian safety crisis.

flimflam November 30, 2019 (4:06 pm)

there isn’t much you can do to stop an impaired driver from driving on the sidewalk…did you read the post?“the incident involved a woman driving onto a sidewalk and hitting 4 pedestrians”
- West Seattle Lurker November 30, 2019 (7:50 pm)
  
  A start would be to identify who did this. Two days later and we don’t even have a name. How can you hold someone accountable when you don’t know who it is? This is what they do around here when people die; information, including the name of the victims trickles out days later. In this day and age, people’s minds have moved on. This is the only major city I’ve lived in where this is the common practice. Coincidentally it’s every defense lawyers dream.
- AMD November 30, 2019 (8:01 pm)
  
  It’s always worth evaluating how measures could be taken to mitigate the impact of extreme events. There is a barrier down the center of the WS bridge, even though people who would cross that line are probably speeding or impaired. There are guardrails on the sides of the freeway to keep cars from going into ditches even though cars would only go off the road like that in an extreme event. There are plenty of ways we stop cars from hitting other cars in the event of an impaired driver. There is no reason to avoid conversations about how we can similarly protect pedestrians, no matter how random this specific incident was.

TCP November 30, 2019 (11:21 pm)

I received a call tonight from a 40+ year good friend. His son’s fiance and her brother were killed. Their father is still hospitalized. They were his only children. The family is destroyed. There is no punishment that will ever make this nightmare go away. The driver has destroyed countless lives with her indefensible behavior. Let’s see if the City of Seattle will step up and do the right thing. A maximum sentence with no parole for “good” behavior. No leniency for her terrible upbringing that is going to be used as the reason for her deadly driving. This is a chance to make vehicular homicide really mean that there is a consequence for blowing up peoples lives for ever!

Kathy December 1, 2019 (10:49 am)

So many tragedies. It’s time to demand the city puts more emphasis on enforcement of speeding violations and deterrent street design. Lack of enforcement is creating an increasingly dangerous driving culture in our city. As a person who is frequently passed while biking by speeding vehicles, I know that one moment of inattention or loss of control by a driver can end my life. Not to mention all the excess pollution being caused by people driving at higher speeds. Think about your carbon footprint and the threat you create if you choose to drive over the speed limit.

Sorry, comment time is over.