Lost Load Leads To Fatal Crash On Interstate 5

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By By KOMO Staff & News Services

Summary

The State Patrol says a truck lost a load of metal shelving in the northbound lanes of I-5 in Shoreline, causing a crash that killed one person.

Story Published: Aug 18, 2006 at 10:17 AM PDT

Story Updated: Aug 31, 2006 at 8:35 AM PDT

Lost Load Leads To Fatal Crash On Interstate 5
SHORELINE - A driver swerving to avoid a metal shelving unit that fell off a pickup truck on Interstate 5 was killed Friday in the ensuing crash.

Washington State Patrol Trooper Kelly Spangler said a 21-year-old Everett man was later arrested.

The patrol said the truck was northbound in Shoreline, just north of Seattle, when the shelf unit fell off at about 11:30 am.

A Honda sedan swerved to avoid the shelving, and was hit broadside by a Lincoln Town Car, killing the Honda driver. Two other vehicles also were involved in the crash.

The pickup did not stop, but about an hour later the patrol received a call from a man who said he was the truck's driver. Troopers determined it was actually his grandson who was driving, and the grandson was arrested.

The crash blocked all but the far right lane of the freeway, snarling northbound traffic out of Seattle for several hours.

In a similar case in February 2004, a Renton woman, Maria Federici, was blinded when an unsecured piece of particle board flew off a vehicle and into her windshield.

The accident led to a change in state law that made driving with an unsecured load a gross misdemeanor and allows more serious penalties, including jail time, in the case of injury or property damage.

The name of the person who died has not yet been released.