UPDATE: West Seattle Bridge crashes

6:06 PM: That’s the traffic-camera view of a two-car crash on the westbound West Seattle Bridge. SPD and SFD are just arriving. No word on whether anyone’s hurt.

6:10 PM: One person is reported injured. The right two lanes are now blocked off by the crash and the emergency response, plus it’s been raining hard for a while now, so if you are headed that way from off-peninsula, allow yourself extra time.

6:16 PM: Now a second crash is reported on the bridge “blocking one of the center lanes,” though we haven’t heard/seen where, only that no one is hurt in that one.

6:31 PM: Another westbound lane has reopened, leaving only the outer WB lane blocked, near the crest.

7:31 PM: Tow truck is on scene to take away the last car left from the original collision. The officer there just told dispatch he’s heard of yet another crash somewhere else on the westbound side.

Chels P June 18, 2023 (6:15 pm)

Just drove by it. Yet another accident caused by a failed merge attempt. When will Washington add merging to the driver licensing exam

RecreationalDriver June 18, 2023 (6:39 pm)

LOL, when was the last time anybody had to take an exam to renew their license?
Kim W June 19, 2023 (8:17 am)

When did merging stop being on the test? When I took drivers Ed in 1985 it was a required part of the exam.

Seaview guy June 18, 2023 (6:18 pm)

Another crash at the on-ramp to the bridge from 99 south. 2 4 1! Be careful!

vee June 18, 2023 (6:40 pm)

people speed all the time on the bridge , they go 10-20 or more over, its never been that bad

saint June 18, 2023 (7:52 pm)

Ricky bobby always said if you’re not first, you’re last!!!

FlorenceN June 19, 2023 (7:14 am)

That’s the funniest comment I’ve ever read on WSB – thank you! The world needs more Ricky Bobby quotes

Sue T. June 18, 2023 (9:04 pm)

That headline (which I misread as an action verb) startled me for a second. How, I thought, did the bridge crash?

WSB June 18, 2023 (9:09 pm)

Sorry; the original headline was “crash on westbound West Seattle Bridge” but I didn’t catch the direction for the other reports, so had to go more generic…

Danimal June 18, 2023 (9:18 pm)

I’ve noticed a definite increase in the number of drivers in the past several weeks who don’t seem to understand that when merging onto a road, YOU MUST YIELD TO THE TRAFFIC ALREADY ON THAT ROAD. You are NOT owed a spot in the traffic. If a spot doesn’t open up for you, you must STOP. That’s right, you must STOP until the lane is clear and you can merge in without making oncoming traffic swerve or slow down for you. Educate your families and friends.

oerthehillz June 19, 2023 (5:58 am)

But if you are in that right lane and you see cars that will need to merge, it’s a courtesy of an even better driver to get over to give those people room. It’s not all about how inconvenienced you might be.
susie June 19, 2023 (7:19 am)

You STOP? The only reason you should STOP is if ALL traffic is at a standstill. The acceleration lane (merge lane) is for you to build up your speed to what the vehicles on the freeway are driving and for you to ease into traffic safely so as to not cause an accident. It’s also common courtesy for the other drivers to let you on safely…but we all know that is not so, so use your common sense. Here’s a good vid on the how to’s:https://youtu.be/enBI_nJ8xqE
Daniel D June 19, 2023 (11:33 am)

In this case yes, since I believe the worst case is you end up exiting towards Alki if you can’t merge left. But if it’s a normal freeway ramp, there’s often no choice but to merge, and if a car stops there’s almost a 0% chance they can get up to freeway speed unless they are in a Ferrari or similar 0-60 beast.The problem I see everywhere is that people are cutthroat and care only about themselves. Let people get over if they properly signal and they are needing to merge. It’s called common courtesy. Also, stop driving so fast on the bridge, it’s ridiculous.
- Danimal June 19, 2023 (2:33 pm)
  
  Daniel D – you’re only correct in that drivers are required to leave enough following distance to allow a vehicle to safely merge. However, if you CANNOT merge because there is no room, you MUST stop. You are NOT allowed to bull your way over into the travel lane. You absolutely MUST be at the speed of traffic when you make your merge, not whatever speed you want to go. You need to review your driver’s guide from driver’s ed, and the law.
Lucy June 19, 2023 (12:27 pm)

You’re kidding, right? Because, that’s exactly how you cause an accident. Merging means you go with the flow of traffic and then either speed up or slow down to find a space in.
Chemist June 19, 2023 (2:45 pm)

This wasn’t a merging incident. The SeaTrafficCams2 twitter account had a clip of the video at the time and the white car was speeding in the left-most lane when it started to skid towards the center and hit the black car.

22blades June 19, 2023 (5:32 am)

It happened right when a rain squall hit.o

22blades June 19, 2023 (5:36 am)

Another (unfortunate) view.

Chuck Jacobs June 19, 2023 (5:57 am)

Remember, the roads are extra slick when it rains after a dry spell.

Scarlett June 19, 2023 (8:11 am)

I was in Los Angeles recently for a conference and never had any problem merging. Drivers see you are trying to merge, they let you in. Simple. They don’t go through this childish Seattle mental algorithm of deciding whether to let you in, or not.

Tivasi June 19, 2023 (5:25 pm)

Agreed! Seattle drivers have an absurd disconnect regarding letting drivers merge in front of them. And they tend to drive metal to metal. No matter what speed of traffic they want to be in front of you. Rude. Just rude driving.
- Josh June 20, 2023 (7:30 am)
  
  Baloney. Drivers in California, especially socal, are WAY more aggressive and merging is much less safe in that state than here.

Kbear June 19, 2023 (10:13 am)

Agree. But the state law for following distance merely states you must allow enough room for another car to safely merge into your lane. Too many, following much too closely! This is another question to add to that test nobody takes for renewal ;)

susie June 19, 2023 (10:41 am)

Easy as this… Ignore title but very informative.

https://youtu.be/enBI_nJ8xqE

Peter June 21, 2023 (8:52 am)

While WA drivers are got the best mergers, this accident appears to just be due to unsafe, possibly intoxicated, bad driving. As traffic cam footage shows, the white BMW was driving on the shoulder at a pretty good clip when they lost control. https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/watch-car-skids-out-control-crashes-rain-west-seattle-bridge/TZ6GHCIC5FCULPBIY4RDVBC44U/

Sorry, comment time is over.