Woman crashes car into bear in Sammamish

A woman crashed her car into a bear at SE 8th
Street in Sammamish on Thursday morning.

“The driver was obviously a bit shaken up, but uninjured.
And she saw the bear scoot off into the woods,” says Sammamish Police
Sgt. Jessica Sullivan.

While neither the driver nor the bear were injured, the
car was wrecked after the crash.

“There was front-end damage to the vehicle, such that it’s
not drivable,” says Sgt. Sullivan.

In the springtime, it’s common for large
animals like bears and cougars to wander into suburban
areas.

Bears look for food in trash cans near houses after they
wake up from hibernating. Most of the time the bears don’t pose a threat to humans.

“We have bear sightings fairly frequently in the city this
time of year, but car-versus-bear accidents are a bit more
uncommon,” says Sgt. Sullivan.

Witnesses say the bear was able to run into the woods
after the crash and didn’t seem to be injured.