UPDATE: Crash on westbound West Seattle Bridge

12:29 PM: An emergency response toward the southwest end of the westbound West Seattle Bridge is for a flipped Jeep, per a reader.

12:58 PM: Log shows SFD cleared fairly quickly, indicating no major injuries.

2:29 PM: Thanks to Jackie for sending the photo, which shows that this happened in what’s been a crash-plagued spot; SDOT has said it’s “monitoring” that location, so we’ll check again tomorrow.

6:45 PM: Added above, another reader photo. Meantime, SFD tells us that firefighters/medics “assessed” a 65-year-old man but he did not need to be taken to the hospital.

KsJ March 23, 2025 (12:37 pm)

We saw it too and called it into 911. It was off the road by the statues. Hope they are ok!

Ms_Monkey March 23, 2025 (12:50 pm)

Saw EMTs tending to a man standing by the road. So it’s a good sign that he could stand after being involved in a roll over like that.

CarDriver March 23, 2025 (1:16 pm)

Ahhh.. the famous SDOT still studying slick worn out pavement “but but only speed can cause accidents” curve claims another.

Jim March 23, 2025 (3:49 pm)

Can’t believe they didn’t do more repair work when it was closed
SafeCarDriver March 23, 2025 (4:00 pm)
1. I was behind the driver who crashed a few weeks ago at this spot. Speed was an issue as I witnessed firsthand. So yeah speed is almost always an issue and the reason this spot is an issue is because it’s at a curve. Stop excusing BAD drivers when they are putting other people at risk from their choices. People calling out speed doesn’t mean it’s a conspiracy theory.

McCoy Randy March 23, 2025 (2:03 pm)

Driver is okay. All is well’

B March 23, 2025 (2:51 pm)

If the driver of the Jeep has a GPS and can prove that he was not speeding when this happened, I would encourage him to seek council and file a lawsuit against the city for damages. Does someone need to die here before the city does anything to fix this booby-trapped section of road. Would that even be enough? There are two different pavement surfaces in the middle of the curve, and there are dips in the road at the end of the curve. When the front end of a vehicle comes out of those dips, it i going to rise, which will result in lost traction for the front tires. The traction was already different because of the different pavement surfaces, so the additional lost traction on the front only amplifies that problem. If someone from the city already looked at this and said everything’s fine, they need to take a middle school level physics class before they look at it again.

Cautious March 23, 2025 (4:37 pm)

Enjoying such speculative analysis.

The GPS might reveal a higher speed than remembered by the embarrassed Jeeper.
But underlying all, would be what was the reasonable speed for the conditions?
The posted speed warning for the curve is for clear-dry-day driving.

What about the hundreds of thousands of vehicles that somehow navigate this roadway without mishap?
- BusStopMom March 23, 2025 (4:48 pm)
  
  I was right in front of this driver and he most definitely was not speeding. The whole thing looked like it happened in slow motion.
  - Hammer in Hand March 23, 2025 (8:46 pm)
    
    So if you were in front of this vehicle you observed it from your rear view mirror?Hard to judge speed in that position
    - k March 24, 2025 (1:16 pm)
      
      Why would you assume the person who crashed was so far in the rearview mirror? Traffic on the bridge isn’t that spread out, more likely the poster was travelling the speed limit, the guy that crashed was the appropriate couple car lengths behind, and clearly not going faster than her because she didn’t get rear-ended. Common sense answers all the questions you have.
- David March 23, 2025 (4:57 pm)
  
  It is more treacherous driving east on that curve – especially in freezing weather where ice can form on the elevated span just as drivers are turning.It would be interesting to know what shape the Jeep’s tires were in. My guess is speeding on worn out tires.We drove east past the wreck – it appeared the Jeep had hit the center dividers pushing those into the east bound lanes as part of the accident.
- CarDriver March 23, 2025 (5:17 pm)
  
  Do you have the facts of what happened here or are you applying “speculative analysis”
  - John A March 24, 2025 (11:23 am)
    
    It is NOT speculative analysis when it has also happened to yourself there in that spot and seen it happen to others. I personally have slipped coming around that corner at a steady and reasonable speed. Why is the DOT procrastinating on this corner? Just step up, be great, and fix it!
    - The Exterminator March 24, 2025 (1:10 pm)
      
      Yes, please fix it so people can go a steady and reasonable speed (10-20 mph over the limit) and not spin out.
- B March 23, 2025 (5:35 pm)
  
  I guess you could speculate all day as to the vehicles that navigate this roadway without mishap. Different vehicles have different suspensions, tires, weight distributions, etc. While driving, I personally have witnessed at least 4 cars that had spun out at that location, and I don’t drive that much. There is no other spot on my usual travel routes that are anything like that. There are problems with the roadway here!
- Dee March 24, 2025 (3:18 pm)
  
  When i go around that corner I slow down under speed limit. And i am a speed deamon…
Jort March 23, 2025 (6:07 pm)

Another option, of course, would be to slow down and take the curve at an appropriate speed, like hundreds of thousands of other drivers manage to do. SDOT does not have an obligation to reconfigure the road to accommodate law-breaking, speeding drivers. Slow down.
AB Surd March 23, 2025 (7:50 pm)

I have taken that corner or section well over the speed limit more often than not. No accidents for me!
Jethro Marx March 24, 2025 (1:35 pm)

This lawsuit B suggests would not last long: whether they were traveling over the posted speed limit or not, they were traveling too fast for the conditions and it is the law of Washington that one travel at a safe speed for the present conditions, including vehicle type and load, weather, traffic, and road condition/geometry. This would be learned easily in a physics class.

Or we could demand that our tax money be used to punish us and enrich someone else for poor judgement and driving skills.

Side note: this curious issue (and the repeated calls for lawsuits against SDOT) has lowered my opinion of West Seattlites’ intelligence.
- B March 24, 2025 (9:33 pm)
  
  Nonsense. Just because a vehicle spins out does not mean it was caused by going too fast for the conditions. If the the road surface is not installed properly, and is essentially booby-trapped, then the road surface is to blame. We’re entitled to have a reasonable expectation that the roads that we drive on are not installed so that the road itself is a hazard.
  - Anthony Medeiros March 25, 2025 (9:53 am)
    
    Personally, I always test my cars ( when there’s no traffic ) to make sure my rides can take that curve at 80 MPH. Hankook tires help. Just sayin’! ( only half- joking actually) That spot IS bad, especially for some vehicles. Yesterday morning there was pick-up truck ( notoriously light in the rear-end and prone to this) spun out up on the grass right there. Maybe there should be Jersey barriers on the Right side to corral errant vehicles like a Hot Wheels track( dating myself?).
    - WSB March 25, 2025 (10:48 am)
      
      Hot Wheels are still sold, FYI (I’ve seen them in the Bartell toy aisle every year when buying goofy stocking stuffers at Christmastime) – don’t know if the famous snap-together orange track is. That aside, to the original topic here, for anyone wondering, we did ask SDOT for an update on observation/changes at this spot, following up on our last round of questions earlier this year, and will likely publish something separately when we get that back … TR

brizone March 23, 2025 (3:24 pm)

Too bad Rob Saka isn’t interested in having SDOT fix this curve instead of undoing safety improvements on Delridge. That money would have made it into the budget by now (or at least he’d be talking about it!)

MM March 23, 2025 (5:00 pm)

Drive round the corner at the recommended speed limit of 35 then you won’t have an accident – this is very simple.

AJ March 23, 2025 (5:09 pm)

How about everyone slow down based on weather conditions? Problem solved….you’re welcome.

Mike March 23, 2025 (5:41 pm)

I have driven this curve several thousand times and never have had any difficulty. But I pay attention to the conditions, and the speed limit.

Vee March 23, 2025 (6:06 pm)

Sorry, but as someone who has driven this a lot and in rain lately I think people who drive limit is very much in minority, ,l can’t tell you how many people drive and cut off and change lanes speeding only to round the corner to red stop lightPlease slow down

Jay March 23, 2025 (6:31 pm)

This curve has accidents all the time. The primary reason for these accidents, idiots driving to fast coming up the hill before the corner in an attempt to race the other cars to the light.Most drivers in Seattle shouldn’t even have a driver license.Guarantee you this guy was speeding on wet pavement.

Seanote March 23, 2025 (8:09 pm)

This is similar to when there wasn’t a center divider on the ws freeway, and they didn’t put one up until a bunch of people died. It seems like they could use the pavement groover like they did on the other side of the road.

Jon Wright March 23, 2025 (10:49 pm)

There is a “Slippery When Wet 30 MPH” sign ahead of that curve. Nobody drives 30 there. Maybe if people did slow down like the sign says, there wouldn’t be any wrecks? But no, let’s keep blaming the pavement.

Datapoint March 24, 2025 (8:13 am)

I’ve lost traction in the outside lane at that spot going 30 mph in wet conditions. Jeep Cherokee XJ similar to this one. Recent BF Goodrich KO2s. I’ve lost traction going under 30 mph. Now, if it’s wet, I usually approach at 20-25 mph.
- kbiz March 24, 2025 (8:34 pm)
  
  KO2s are known for having wet pavement traction problems! I have them on my 4Runner… I too have lost control only to regain it again on this exact curve!

Watertowerjim March 24, 2025 (6:20 am)

This is like waiting for a death before installing a stoplight. How many warnings do we need? Why people immediately resort to “slow down” boggles my mind. We can’t tell the dead person to slow down. Fix it.

CJ March 24, 2025 (8:46 am)

On my way into work at about 7:30am today (Monday, 3/24) I noticed a silver Toyota pickup was backed into the mud below the Welcome To WS sign. The wheels on the vehicle looked out of alignment possibly from hitting the curbing before going off into the ditch.

JustSomeDude March 24, 2025 (9:53 am)

I have tried to take this curve at the speed limit, (30mph), to see what it felt like, and it would be very difficult to slide at that speed. In fact, I had to adjust speed because I was clearly slowing down traffic,since even the slower drivers were a solid 10mph faster than me.That is a slow, SLOW curve when done at the speed limit,and I have never seen anyone going remotely close to 30mph there. While the grade definitely plays a part,I think people misjudge the degree of momentum they have there,as it’s deceptively straight looking.

Brian March 24, 2025 (1:59 pm)

You don’t have to go faster just because you think someone else wants you to go faster. Just go slow. It’s your right to do it and you should relish the ability to do it as often as necessary to not injure yourself or someone else on the road.
CarDriver March 24, 2025 (3:52 pm)

The yellow speed signs are ADVISORY signs. Actual speed limit signs are white with black numbers
- CAM March 24, 2025 (9:57 pm)
  
  CarDriver that is the most ridiculous argument yet. So they “advise” drivers that they should drive through an area at a particular speed for safety but because it isn’t technically breaking the law the government should be changing the roadway to accommodate people who don’t want to listen to that advice? That’s like saying, that bottle is rat poison and I advise you not to eat it, but there’s no law that says you can’t eat it and then blaming the manufacturer when you end up in the hospital.
- JustSomeDude March 24, 2025 (10:57 pm)
  
  They advise people not to eat Tide Pods, too.

CR March 24, 2025 (11:06 pm)

A lot of people talk about speeding or how they weren’t going fast… but I see very few on either side saying the actual speed! The speed during dry conditions should be: 30mph. Wet conditions: lower than that. Yes there is an issue with the road there that should be addressed.But two things can be true at once. A piece of seemingly overlooked evidence is how thousands of people cross that spot in various conditions and speeds without incident. So the road isn’t entirely at fault… but if we were all diligently following the rules and beyond (like even slower than the speed limit of 30) and on all roads, I bet there would be fewer incidents there. Simultaneously let’s make the road even safer.

JustSomeDude March 25, 2025 (8:42 am)

You take that curve slower than 30mph, it’s going to be nearly impossible to crash. You just won’t have the momentum.