TRAFFIC ALERT: Crash at Delridge/Orchard

12:10 PM: A three-car crash is reported at Delridge/Orchard, with SPD and SFD responding. Avoid the area.

12:25 PM: We are arriving in the area. Delridge is blocked south of the intersection.

12:33 PM: Photo added. At least one person is being transported by by AMR ambulance.

38 Replies to "TRAFFIC ALERT: Crash at Delridge/Orchard"

  • Amy April 4, 2020 (12:27 pm)

    Not letting Delridge SB through. One person in custody. 

  • Toby April 4, 2020 (12:49 pm)

    There was someone in handcuffs when we went by earlier, so any arrests?

  • DRW April 4, 2020 (12:54 pm)

    That some serious damage. Its weird out there. Not much traffic but people are driving all kinds of crazy  lately. Drive careful West Seattle! 

    • WSB April 4, 2020 (1:22 pm)

      We took Holden to get there and turned into the Home Depot lot … where dozens were waiting in line to get in. As someone pointed out on Twitter, perhaps a restriction on # of people allowed in at once, but still.

      • Ambc April 4, 2020 (2:01 pm)

        Yes, Home Depot is only allowing 115 people in at a time. We waited about a 1/2 hour. Hopefully they figure out that they should have a couple people working the line for those who ordered and paid online and just need to pick up. That would have cut the line by probably 1/3. 

      • ambc April 4, 2020 (2:05 pm)

        Home Depot is only allowing 115 people in at a time. Hopefully they can get some employees to work the line for those who ordered and paid online and are there for pick up only. That would help a bunch. 

  • KM April 4, 2020 (1:12 pm)

    Yikes, I hope everyone recovers. Though I don’t know the reason for this crash, I noticed this intersection has a lot more E/W traffic now that the high bridge is closed and low bridge is restricted (for some). Would SDOT be willing to do a quick protected left turn improvement here for the E/W traffic? Yesterday mid-day, I saw only one left turning car get through per light, and it was after it turned red and definitely not safe or legal.

    • dcn April 4, 2020 (1:37 pm)

      I agree. This intersection has always been bad for E/W bound left-turners, even before the rerouting of all the bridge traffic. It needs a left turn signal.

      • KBH April 4, 2020 (4:53 pm)

        100% agreed. I’ve meant to inquire for so long about adding a protected left turn for east / west bound traffic at Orchard & Delridge (I live just up the hill from Home Depot, so am a regular through this area). Rush hour and even “quieter” times of the day are often a mess to turn through.  Any idea if this has ever been looked into for this intersection, WSB?  

    • Trickycoolj April 4, 2020 (2:02 pm)

      Oh that’s a good idea actually, this intersection gets crazy during the 5pm rush hour going west it backs half way back to 16th and can take about 3 cycles just to get straight across.  Add to that people treat it like a drag strip with the slip-lanes.  Probably should convert the center lanes to a proper left turn lane and make the slip lanes the straight/right.@WSB any chance you can check with SDOT on this one? 

    • dcn April 4, 2020 (2:26 pm)

      I agree. This intersection was bad for E/W bound left-turners even before the reroute from the bridge. That intersection needs left turn arrows from Orchard onto Delridge.

      • sam-c April 4, 2020 (5:25 pm)

        I agree that it protected left turns would be good for the E/W traffic. it’s been needed for many years.  It seems like SDOT HATES protected left turns though… even for intersections where buses are trying to turn left…. I’ve never understood that.  

        • Pilsner April 4, 2020 (9:26 pm)

          I think better driver training would be a better investment for the city.

  • 1994 April 4, 2020 (1:36 pm)

    This intersection is another example of where the SDOT has created a traffic bottleneck with the ‘improvements’ they made. Instead of traffic moving through the intersection it gets jammed up .

    • wendell April 4, 2020 (4:09 pm)

      I agree completely. Before the SAH order, that was my evening commute, I commute by motorcycle, and since the so called improvements to that intersection, I’ve had more than the usual car/motorcycle close calls. Most incidents  are from the distracted and/or speeding,  some from attempting murder… drivers that either don’t know how to, or refuse to zip merge, as well as red light runners.

      I hope the innocent in today’s crash will be OK, and wish them a speedy recovery.

  • KayK April 4, 2020 (1:50 pm)

    KM you make a good point. We are all learning the full circles of impact of the high bridge route closure. May I suggest you contact Lisa Herbold’s office- they have been great about getting the ear of SDOT with these sorts of observations.

    • KM April 4, 2020 (7:30 pm)

      Sending in a note, and encourage others to do the same!

  • flimflam April 4, 2020 (2:14 pm)

    ooh that looks terrible.@DRW – i agree. i have seen people doing some dangerous stuff on the roads, tailgating, etc…never know what people’s situations are but it would seem that almost nobody has any reason to be in a rush at the moment. the last thing hospitals need is more patients – the last thing a healthy person would need right now is a trip to a hospital.

  • Danosborne April 4, 2020 (2:19 pm)

    Looks like a zip car…

  • Aaron April 4, 2020 (2:29 pm)

    Witnessed first hand. Crazy accident and weird incident. A car went straight through a red light on Delridge going 40-50 mph and t-boned 2 cars crossing Delridge on Orchard (who had green light right-of-way). The car that ran the red light basically disintegrated. In 5 more seconds, it would have been me and my family – we were waiting on Orchard ready to cross. Amazingly, all three people in the 3 cars were at least ok enough to get out of their cars. The guy who ran the red light was trapped in his car. A witness ran over and pulled him out through his window. There was immediately a cop car there – either the cop car was chasing the t-boner, or it was just a coincidence. BUt, as soon as the T-boner was pulled out of his car, he took off running! 2 cops gave chase on foot and took him down in the Shell parking lot, then drew their guns. They did not shoot him. At this point we decided to get away from that intersection fast. I drove away, but they have our number via 911 if they want a witness statement. There were also multiple other witnesses present. Close call.

    • Apotheosis April 4, 2020 (4:24 pm)

      Scary – glad you and your family are safe. Too many people driving crazy around here and not enough enforcement of traffic laws in normal times. In current situation, I guess some folks just amp up their stupidity.

      • Vf April 4, 2020 (7:35 pm)

        Totally agree. Been saying it and asking police for help for years. There aren’t enough police to do traffic and those that were on traffic were pulled off for for other duties.  I have an email from Captain Sano or Lt Strand stating this fact. People start to notice consciously or subconsciously that they don’t get pulled over or don’t see others getting pulled over in WS and it translates to illegal dangerous driving habits. I’m glad I’m not the only one still noticing bad behavior even though traffic volume is way down.

    • Joey April 4, 2020 (4:52 pm)

      Was it the silver zip car that caused the accident?

      • SO April 4, 2020 (5:49 pm)

        No, the person in the Zipcar happens to be my coworker and one of the victims in this case. Was surprised to learn I knew someone involved. Scary!

      • Jackie April 4, 2020 (5:53 pm)

        I would guess that the Zipcar was hit first. It looks like the entire front of it was pushed sideways from the impact. Good thing they hadn’t pulled up any further 😧

    • Neill April 4, 2020 (5:33 pm)

      I’m the witness who pulled him from the car. I was stopped at the red light going southbound. After the crash and all the cars stopped spinning, I jumped out to help. His car was very damaged…just completely crushed in on the driver’s side. His hand was reaching out through the window (mostly I couldn’t see in, as the airbags were in the way) and he was saying, “Somebody help! Somebody help me get out.” I tried the door handle but the door wouldn’t open. He then had both hands out as well as his head, and he was grasping toward me, so I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him through the window. He was standing and appeared okay, so I turned to a second car and that guy was also trying to get out. A police car came up at this point and the guy I had helped, ran. He went straight to another car that had stopped well away from the accident. He opened the driver’s door and seemed to be trying to get into the driver’s seat and saying something to that driver. The 2 officers were running at him telling him to stop, so he abandoned that plan and took off running again into the gas station lot. The officers caught and tacked him, but we’re not initially successful at subduing him. One had a taser out and was ordering the guy to stop trying to escape. He did squirm away, at which point the officer gave another warning. The guy ran, and the officer fired the taser. It looked like it struck his right pant leg but didn’t do anything. The second taser shot seemed to hit him in the back, and he went down like a tree tipping over! More and more police were arriving at this point. A couple of other witnesses helped me clear the debris from under my car. Then an officer came and took my statement and my information. In the photo here on wsb, you can see the officer interviewing me. My car is behind the white one. I am now worried about if this character may have exposed me to coronavirus, but I couldn’t ignore his cries for help! 

      • Canton April 4, 2020 (9:57 pm)

        Thank you for responding to the crash,  and thinking of others first. It didn’t  matter who you were helping, you helped, and were thinking  heroically  in a bad situation. The police took care of the rest. Big props.

        • Neill April 5, 2020 (12:01 am)

          Thanks. I’m glad I helped him in his moment of need. And, I agree the police took care of things. They were very professional. What a difficult job these men and women do for us! 

  • 1994 April 4, 2020 (4:13 pm)

    Time and time again I read about drivers who cause an accident but they manage to escape with minor injuries, or worse they run! away, while the other vehicle’s occupants are severely injured or killed. 

  • randy April 4, 2020 (5:49 pm)

    We can die any moment. Are we ready for the Maker? I am because of Jesus.

    • Mr E April 4, 2020 (6:37 pm)

      Jesus doesn’t return for another week so we’re lucky to have SPD and emergency response crews to help our neighbors.

  • Spooled April 4, 2020 (8:30 pm)

    Terrible collision and this intersection really would benefit from a left turn arrow for the East-West movements.  Very hard to see over the crest heading West and the giant utility pothole in the lane by the pumphouse (heading East) is unacceptable.  Never mind the road diet from a few years ago and proposed development just East of the 7-11.Counting down until Jort comes in to tell us this wouldn’t happen if we all had “free” ebikes.

  • sc April 4, 2020 (8:52 pm)

    “My bags are always packed”Pope John XXIII

  • McGruff April 4, 2020 (9:01 pm)

    It seems like a lot of people are driving crazy these days. My guess it’s a combination of stress from this crisis + the knowledge that the police are stretched so thin that the odds of getting caught are very slim.Everybody needs to chill out, but the City Attorney has to start keeping the perps SPD catches rather than spinning his usual revolving door.

  • Jort April 4, 2020 (9:12 pm)

    Aaron and Neill thank you for your selfless actions to help those in need!  My thoughts and prayers go out to those affected and hope they find suitable replacement transportation without delay.

    • Neill April 5, 2020 (12:06 am)

      Thanks Jort!  

    • Jort April 5, 2020 (2:34 pm)

      WSB: I did not write this comment.

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