UPDATE: Flipped-car crash on Highland Park Way hill

10:48 AM: SPD and SFD are headed for the bottom of the Highland Park Way hill, where the traffic camera (screengrab above) verifies a just-reported crash includes a flipped car. At least one other car is reported to be involved as well.

(Added: Reader photo, sent by Mary)

10:54 AM: Police and fire are there now. Uphill lanes are completely blocked and only one downhill lane is open. Officers just confirmed to dispatch that one other car and a bus were involved in the crash too.

11:10 AM: Two downhill lanes are open. Meantime, SFD closed out quickly, indicating no serious injuries.

11:47 AM: Crash scene is clear, all lanes of HP Way are open again.

Actualperson January 13, 2026 (12:08 pm)

WSB. On an accident like this will there be an after report available from SPD as to what happened and how/why it happened?

WSB January 13, 2026 (12:38 pm)

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Crash reports are hard to get from SPD unless someone is charged, in which case the narrative appears in the court docs. There is a database the Washington State Patrol keeps on crashes handled by all l/e agencies; it will likely eventually appear there.

Alki resident January 13, 2026 (12:34 pm)

More proof cutting down a lane will not be a good idea.

Gorton January 13, 2026 (12:43 pm)

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More proof that drivers are responsible for all these accidents, not the infrastructure
- Alki resident January 13, 2026 (5:22 pm)
  
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  No kidding hence my comment. Cutting down a lane will cause more danger to people going both directions. Traffic will be blocked for emergency crews and tow trucks, leading cars to not have enough space to move around it.
Foop January 13, 2026 (2:18 pm)

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How is this proof of that at all? If anything restricting lanes and slowing speeds will reduce accidents on this road, not that many cars flip here anyhow but how this is proof we shouldn’t put a road diet on HPW is beyond me.
- Alki resident January 13, 2026 (5:25 pm)
  
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  That road is wide open most of the time. And you’re right not too many cars flip there nor have their been many issues on that stretch hence there is no reason to fix what is not broken.
  - Mellow Kitty January 14, 2026 (6:57 am)
    
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    Translation: I want to drive as fast as I want to. You can’t stop me.
  - Foop January 14, 2026 (10:22 am)
    
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    If the road is wide open all the time then certainly we have the space to add a dedicated lane to make it safer for me to get to South Park on my ebike, and home without having to add 5 miles (doubling the distance for my trip).I for one would literally be one less car using this road for that purpose alone. As is when I need to get to SP I drive because coming back up this hill is a nightmare and going up marginal adds 20+ minutes to my trip.
- Kyle January 13, 2026 (5:54 pm)
  
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  A rare agree with foop. From the info given, I don’t think this is proof of anything related to road design.
Also John January 13, 2026 (7:46 pm)

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What proof? I bet we’d see no more flipped vehicles if we removed all the driving lanes.

SLJ January 13, 2026 (12:45 pm)

I wish there was a barrier on the curves there, so at least if someone crashes it doesn’t lead to a head-on collision.

bill January 13, 2026 (1:31 pm)

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YES
Alki resident January 13, 2026 (5:26 pm)

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If someone crashes into barrier, the barrier will now have to be straightened out again which happens all the time on the West Seattle freeway. We don’t need one more thing on Highland Park Way

Marty2 January 13, 2026 (1:11 pm)

I remember when everyone called it Boeing Hill and Boeing’s Red Barn was still located at the bottom.

Seattlite January 13, 2026 (2:05 pm)

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I still call it “Boeing Hill” as do many other old-timers. Whenever I drive up or down Boeing Hill, I take note of all of the speeders. The higher the speed the less control a driver has in reacting and maneuvering. The more distracted a driver is the less control the driver has in reacting and maneuvering. These are my opinions.

HP Life long Resident January 13, 2026 (1:59 pm)

Marty, We still call it Boeing Hill! I also think people should be more responsible with their driving, so I am in agreement with Gorton. Accidents can happen anywhere. Changing the roadway so that long term Highland Park residents have only one lane to travel up or down the hill is going to be a nightmare. Reducing it to one lane is not the answer from a HP resident who has both driven and ridden a bike up the hill for the last 49 years.Eliminating bike lanes and keeping two vehicle lanes with a barrier would make more sense than adding a new bike lane and reducing traffic flow, but I am ultimately in favor of leaving it the way it has been for decades. Asking people to drive safely and enforcing existing traffic laws would likely be far more effective than adding speed bumps, fewer lanes, new stop signs, and 25-MPH signs, which clearly do not solve the problem or resolve anything.

k January 13, 2026 (2:25 pm)

This is why I am so glad they’re narrowing the downhill side to one lane.

Platypus January 14, 2026 (8:02 am)

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Can’t come fast enough. The road design and certainly the side path are both a problem

westseattlebob January 13, 2026 (4:24 pm)

As a resident of HP, i welcome the decreased lanes northbound. The speeds that are generated by those using our neighborhood as access off the peninsula can get sketchy. There are more ‘almost’ collisions from those traveling uphill with those speeding down. Adding more pedestrian and bike lanes could mean an eventual or potential crossing from the Duwamish greenbelt to a trail network to Westcrest park. We get at least 3 or 4 of these flipped or crashed cars every year. 25MPH is 25mph, it’s posted that speed for a reason.

Mike January 13, 2026 (4:35 pm)

Aaaaand WS continues to dominate the nation in flipped cars. Good going home team!!!

Aaron G January 14, 2026 (9:09 am)

This is why SDOT is redesigning the road and reducing the downhill side to a single lane. There are reguarly speed related crashes here. The current design induces people to speed. I was just driving through there today going 35 (in a 25) and was passed by two cars going 45. The second car was dangerously tailgating the first. For those concerned about capacity with the reduced lanes, Holden is single lane as it feeds into Highland Park Way – meaning, you don’t need the extra lane to handle traffic. This single lane will spread out at the bottom into multiple lanes to get people through the let in the various directions they are going. The overall impact to travel times will be nil, counterintuitive as that may be. And we’ll have less of these crashes. Without the crashes, SDOT wouldn’t be paying any attention to this road.