UPDATE: Crash on Beach Drive

10:02 PM: Police are blocking northbound Beach Drive at Atlas because of a crash. So far one vehicle is reported involved, one engine but no medic unit dispatched so injuries are not believed to be major.

(Added: Photo by James Bratsanos)

10:50 PM: Commenter Peter describes the crash as a rollover.

ADDED THURSDAY: Police are investigating this as suspected DUI.

13 Replies to "UPDATE: Crash on Beach Drive"

  • Petert April 7, 2021 (10:08 pm)

    Rollover accident at 6000 N Beach Drive, couple of hundred yards north of Atlas. Vehicle on its hood in northbound lane. 

    • WSB April 7, 2021 (10:49 pm)

      Thanks, didn’t know it was a flip, since those usually – but not always – result in rescue-extrication calls.

  • Kersti Muul April 7, 2021 (10:09 pm)

    Was a lot of sirens….

  • Auntie April 8, 2021 (10:37 am)

    It’s hard for me to imagine flipping my car – just how the heck do they do it? I guess I need to look into the physics of car rollovers. I know excessive speed is involved, but just not sure how the flipping part happens.

    • Brian April 8, 2021 (3:19 pm)

      Look up something called “wheel crawl”. You can flip a car if it climbs an adjacent car’s tires; even at very low speeds. 

  • RC April 8, 2021 (11:54 am)

    She hit my mom’s car that was parked on the side of the street.  Both cars are totaled. She must have been going REALLY fast.  Glad all are ok.  The same thing just happened to the nextdoor neighbors last month!

  • CarDriver April 8, 2021 (12:03 pm)

    Auntie. Speed isn’t always a cause. Was a 1 car rollover accident on I5 a few years ago. Per WSP the car was going 40. 

    • WSB April 8, 2021 (12:18 pm)

      And in this case per info I just added, DUI may be the cause here.

    • speedkilz April 8, 2021 (12:40 pm)

      I enjoy a chuckle when our  weather forecasters say, “a chance of rain.”  
      Of course, there is always a chance as either zero precent or no chance of rain is still a chance of rain.
      +

      That reverberates with with CarDriver’s “speed isn’t always a cause” citing a 40 MPH rollover on I-5.  
      But, if the car wasn’t moving, had zero speed, it would not roll over.  
      So speed was a factor.
      =
      Recently I witnessed an extremely slow one car roll-over on 35th Ave  SW.  
      The car appeared to be moving well below 10 MPH but managed to hit a car and rollover staying ‘turtled’ upside down.  
      The low speed of the vehicle astonished me.  
      +
      I believe WSB covered this roll-over.

  • Auntie April 8, 2021 (1:30 pm)

    So, if speed is not involved then I really have a hard time figuring out how one flips one’s car! Maybe highly erratic driving? Jerking the steering wheel back and forth? I don’t know…

    • Frog April 8, 2021 (3:10 pm)

      I would guess part of the technique involves hitting a solid stationary object, at the proper angle, while going reasonably fast, so all the straight-line momentum of your car is suddenly converted into rotation.  If you practice, it’s probably not hard.

  • CarDriver April 8, 2021 (2:07 pm)

    Auntie. Physics. Hitting something at just the right angle and speed and having momentum do the rest.

  • Momford&sons April 8, 2021 (6:20 pm)

    Just wondering what happened to the driver? I heard the crash from my house and saw the car flipped . . . did she walk away?  Was everyone okay? We were worried. I never saw the driver. 

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