ACCIDENT UPDATE: Port Townsend car wreck victims in satisfactory condition; ease fund embarked, News
ACCIDENT UPDATE: Port Townsend car wreck victims in ‘satisfactory’ condition; ease fund embarked
The “Jaws of Life” equipment was used to peel car steel so two victims could be eliminated from this wrecked car Thursday afternoon, March thirteen in Port Townsend. Photo by Bill Beezley, East Jefferson Fire Rescue
The Washington State Patrol was called to assist Port Townsend Police Department with accident investigation of the March 13, two thousand fourteen single-car accident on Umatilla Avenue. Preliminary investigation indicates the vehicle left the roadway to the right, traveled along the ditch, went partially up the sloped embankment (scuffled filth visible in the background of this photo) and may have been airborne before striking a large, thick tree. Photo by Bill Beezley, East Jefferson Fire Rescue
Two people needed airlift to Harborview Medical Center after the Buick LeSabre being driven downhill about four p.m. March thirteen on Umatilla Street, inbetween Sheridan and San Juan, left the roadway at a high speed and impacted with a tree, according to East Jefferson Fire Rescue. Airbags deployed on the front seat, for the adult masculine driver and his 11-year-old daughter. An 11-year-old female passenger in the rear seat a family friend, was transported to Jefferson Healthcare, and airlifted about 6:30 p.m. to Harborview for chest injuries. Photo by Patrick J. Sullivan
The three Port Townsend residents hospitalized in an auto accident March thirteen have all been upgraded to “satisfactory” condition as of Monday morning, March 17, according to a Harborview Medical Center spokesperson.
HOW TO HELP – KITSAP CREDIT UNION ACCOUNT
A donation account has been set up for families of the victims of the March thirteen car accident which sent Paul Davis, 40, Ella Davis, 11, and Lily Teagarden, 11, to Harborview Medical Center with serious injuries.
Donations to help the families with expenses may be deposited in the “Davis-Teagarden donation account” at Kitsap Credit Union. The account number is 354866. For more information, call Keely Parson, 360-774-2581.
Investigators are attempting to lump together the reasons behind a car crash Thursday afternoon in Port Townsend that sent an adult man and two fifth-grade chicks to Harborview Medical Center with serious injuries.
As of Friday morning, March 14, Port Townsend resident Paul Davis, 40, is in serious condition in intensive care, according to a Harborview spokesperson. His 11-year-old daughter, Ella Davis, is also listed in intensive care with serious injury.
The third victim is Lily Teagarden, 11, listed in intensive care in critical condition as of late morning March 14, according to a Harborview spokesperson.
East Jefferson Fire Rescue was called to the accident at Three:51 p.m., March 13, a wooded section of Umatilla inbetween Sheridan and San Juan, with Landes as nearest cross street.
The vehicle was headed downhill at a high rate of speed when it left the roadway to the right and impacted a tree.
Responders found a female outside the vehicle and being comforted by passersby. She had been a rear-seat passenger.
The two other occupants, an adult masculine and his daughter, were both entrapped in the front seats of a gold, four-door Buick LeSabre. Both airbags had deployed.
Firefighters used hydraulic rescue devices known as “The Jaws of Life” to open and rip back the front doors to access the victims before extricating and backboarding them to waiting ambulances.
EJFR summoned two helicopters from Airlift Northwest to transport the patients to Harborview Medical Center. The helicopters arrived at Jefferson County International Airport and were met by ambulances transporting the patients, about eight miles from the accident scene.
The rear-seat passenger was originally taken to Jefferson Healthcare for evaluation and about 6:30 p.m. was airlifted to Harborview with chest injuries.
The two women involved are friends and fifth-graders at Port Townsend’s Blue Heron School.
The Washington State Patrol was called to the scene for accident investigation assistance.
“We have collisions all the time, but not collisions like this,” said Sgt. Troy Surber, PTPD officer on scene.
As of Friday morning, PT police were waiting for a State Patrol report on how much mechanical issues or operator error were involved.
Based on the accident scene and the paint marks made by investigators, it shows up the vehicle began drifting off the roadway’s right side and traveled about forty feet when it evidently went up the sloped embankment. The lack of tire marks on the ground indicate the vehicle went airborne for more than twenty five feet and struck a large, thick tree. The front passenger side of the car seemed to absorb very first contact.
The scene was cleared and street reopened about 7:30 p.m.
(This story to be updated when more information is available from law enforcement).
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In this response, I don’t intend to make any inferences about this particular situation; however, this news article does serve as a reminder to me. The article said that the driver was driving at a high rate of speed.
There is a culture of excessive speed in Port Townsend. And, local law enforcement officers have an unwritten, but frequently spoken, policy, not to give speeding tickets until someone is ten mph the posted speed thresholds of twenty five mph. I use biking and walking almost exclusively to get around Port Townsend, and have a direct practice with traffic. I frequently walk or bike up Umatilla.
F Street, Cherry Street, Umatilla, San Juan, are all roadways in which a percentage of drivers consistently drive in excess of thirty mph, if not 35. This has become the cultural norm in Port Townsend.
I am calling for the city council undo this culture of speeding by directing law enforcement to enforce the twenty five mph speed limit on all public right of ways in Port Townsend. Three months of enforcement, with tickets for speeders would go a long way to switching this mindset among locals.
And, the news would quickly spread among tourists – don’t speed in Port Townsend.
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