Ambulance, motorhome crash shuts down I-5 south
Jun 2, 2024, 11:01 AM
A bad crash involving a motorhome and an ambulance shut down all lanes of I-5 south Sunday morning. Roads reopened around 9:30 a.m. (Image courtesy of WSDOT)
(Image courtesy of WSDOT)
A bad crash involving a motorhome and an ambulance shut down all lanes of Interstate 5 (I-5) south Sunday morning.
According to the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), the collision happened on the southbound I-5 ramp from the West Seattle Bridge.
UPDATE 2: All lanes of southbound I-5 are now blocked. Travelers are being detoured from SB I-5 to South Forest Street to 6th Avenue South to Airport Way South. https://t.co/ldNfKuR6re
— WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) June 2, 2024
Around 4 a.m., a vehicle became disabled and one of the occupants got out, according to the Washington State Patrol (WSP).
That person was then struck by a motorhome.
Troopers said an AMR ambulance then stopped to treat the victim. While they were stopped, the ambulance was also hit and was pushed into the original disabled vehicle.
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The crash resulted in the freeway being shut down in the southbound lanes for more than four hours, according to WSDOT.
Roads reopened around 9:30 a.m.
FINAL UPDATE: All lanes of southbound I-5 just south of the West Seattle Bridge have reopened from an earlier collision. The on-ramp to southbound I-5 from the West Seattle Bridge has also reopened. https://t.co/89akLY1e87 pic.twitter.com/bV7jNMjrWC
— WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) June 2, 2024
KIRO Newsradio spoke with an AAA spokesperson last month who said Washington is one of the worst states for distracted driving. The number one distractor — friends.
Data from the Traffic Safety Commission’s website shows fatal crashes in Washington have dramatically increased. In 2014, there were 462 fatal crashes involving a motor vehicle reported and in 2023, there were 810 fatal crashes reported. Nearly half of the crashes involved an impaired driver and the majority of people killed were men.
To make the pledge to become a better driver, you can check out Safe Drive Club’s website.
Contributing: Micki Gamez, KIRO Newsradio
Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email her here.
