An accident reported August 29 involving a vehicle that crashed into a pillar under the West Seattle Bridge resulted in the death of a teenager, local news outlets reported. The accident happened Tuesday morning near Southwest Spokane Street and 26th Avenue Southwest. Following the accident, firefighters had to cut off the car’s roof to extricate one of the occupants.
The passenger, a 16-year-old boy, was taken to the hospital with critical injuries. News outlets later reported the passenger died. The driver, a 20-year-old man, sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Officials said the driver “showed signs of impairment.”
Officials Say Driver Was Speeding Before West Seattle Bridge Crash
Prior to the accident, officials said that the vehicle was traveling eastbound “at a high rate of speed.” This caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle, officials added, causing the car to crash into a cement pillar. When the Seattle Fire Department crew arrived at the scene, they had to free the occupant who had been trapped in the crashed car.
The Seattle Police confirmed that the passenger who died was a 16-year-old boy.
Speeding Is On The Rise: Are You Doing Your Part To Avoid Accidents?
In June, 2023, Gov. Jay Inslee told reporters that he supports the addition of more speed cameras across the state of Washington. The comment followed reports that the state traffic safety plan dubbed Target Zero was progressing slowly.
As the number of speeding-related traffic accidents in Seattle and across the state is on the rise, Gov. Inslee said that there are “too many people not coming home to their families” due to the increasing number of accidents.
By then, traffic fatalities in Washington had increased about 39% from 2019, prompting officials to urge drivers to slow down. Unfortunately, we continue to see a high rate of accidents caused by speed and other factors such as distracted driving being reported regularly.
As personal injury attorneys in Seattle, we are well aware of the pain and suffering the victims of traffic accidents and their loved ones experience. We hope drivers will learn from this tragic accident.
For more on this crash, follow this link.
