Date:
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Contact:
Travis Phelps, WSDOT Communications, (206) 440-4470 (Seattle)
Dave McCormick, WSDOT Asst. Regional Administrator, (206) 440-4656 (Seattle)
MARYSVILLE – It appears that cable barrier successfully stopped a vehicle that swerved into the median this morning after avoiding a wrong-way driver on northbound I-5 in Marysville. Though his car was damaged, the driver who collided with the cable barrier walked away with no injuries.
“We almost had two head-on collisions at freeway speeds,” said Washington State Patrol Trooper Kirk Rudeen. “It’s truly a miracle that we didn’t have a serious injury or a fatal collision out there today.”
The collision happened just before 11 a.m. when a driver made a U-turn after entering northbound I-5 from the 88th Street on-ramp. Two northbound drivers in the left lane swerved to miss the wrong-way vehicle. The second driver narrowly missed the wrong-way driver, spun around, and struck the cable barrier. His vehicle traveled about eight feet into the median before the cable barrier brought it back to rest on the freeway shoulder.
“The cable barrier did exactly what it’s designed to do, as it has in hundreds of collisions throughout the state,” said Dave McCormick, WSDOT Assistant Northwest Region Administrator. “It caught the car and stopped it safely off the road without letting it cross over the median or bounce back into northbound traffic. This collision could have had a very tragic ending, and instead the drivers left the scene unharmed.”
Crews will be out Thursday morning to repair the cable barrier knocked down by the force of the collision. They plan to start the repairs by 7:15 a.m. and complete the work by the end of the day.
WSDOT, Washington State Patrol and independent engineers continue to make progress on an extensive report on cable median barrier requested by Governor Chris Gregoire on Feb. 23, 2007. A fatality on I-5 near Marysville on Feb. 13 prompted inquiries regarding the effectiveness of cable median barriers, especially on I-5 near Marysville.
The cable barrier stopped the vehicle safely on the freeway shoulder. The driver walked away without injuries.
Washington State Patrol troopers investigate the collision scene.
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