Woman critically injured in crash with semi on I-5
TUMWATER, Wash. -- A 43-year-old woman was critically injured when the car she was in was hit by a semi truck on Interstate 5 south of Tumwater early Friday.
Washington State Patrol Trooper Guy Gill said the woman was stopped in the southbound lanes with no lights on near milepost 98 when her car was hit just before 6 a.m.
She was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, but her current condition was not known.
The truck driver was no injured, and troopers are trying to determine why the woman was stopped in the middle of the freeway.
Washington State Patrol Trooper Guy Gill said the woman was stopped in the southbound lanes with no lights on near milepost 98 when her car was hit just before 6 a.m.
She was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, but her current condition was not known.
The truck driver was no injured, and troopers are trying to determine why the woman was stopped in the middle of the freeway.
No lights on and your stopped in a lane on a busy interstate at late hours where you cannot be seen until there is an object right in front of you... sheesh with all the people that drive with no lights on at 11pm I am surprised we don't have more of these hope she recovers and next time remembers to put on the darn hazards or better yet pulls off the road instead of sitting in the middle of it!
Do we have any new information on this? I sure hope she's going to be okay - but probably a long haul ahead of her...Â
Before anyone assumes anything, first and foremost, don't believe everything that you read in the news. First of all, they say she was hit just before 6am and it was actually hours before at 2:30am and secondly, there were no skid marks and only one side of the story (The guy driving the semi). The only other witness was Lanette and she is in the hospital right now. So before anyone jumps to any stupid conclusions lets focus on how she is going to recover from this horrific accident instead of focusing on what had happened. Just in case anyone is wondering since NO ONE asked...she will be ok; however, it will be a slow and long recovery.Â
 @smyleex07 A couple of us hoped her well (two days before your post). I wouldn't generalize or you may be guilty of what you're accusing others of doing.
I passed her around two thirty. She had her flashers on. And she was out out of the car. On rightside doing something.So sorry for her.
 @hood4343@gmail.com Hello I am her friend and we are trying to see what happened. This could be helpful information since the only story we have is from the truck driver who says her lights were off, but that isn't like Lanette. I will email you if that is ok because your statement countering what the truck driver is saying could be very helpful.Â
 @smyleex07 There is this thing called a battery and your hazards cannot stay flashing forever if you have a weak one... just FYI that the truck driver very well might have seen no lights ... becuase the battery was already dead I wouldn't pin much hope there if your thinking about suing of all things...
This never would of happened if she bought the new Scion with 11 airbags including one in the rear.
and guess what guys, the truck driver was 'NO' injured! does nobody proof read these things??
The most logical conclusion is that she was drunk. It might not be the case but it is the most logical conclusion at this point. You don't just stop in the middle of the road because the car dies. You pull it over to one shoulder or the other. If you're not smart enough to do that you probably shouldn't have a drivers license.
All those on here calling her an idiot & a drunk. Why? Why do you just automatically assume that is the case from reading what very little information KOMO posted in this story?
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I learned something this week about newer cars that I did not know (and which makes no sense to me at all). Those with electrical systems & no key (they have a push button to turn them on, like the Prius) - if the electrical system dies, you are totally & completely screwed. You cannot even unloock the steering wheel to try to move the car - everything shuts down.
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So please, before you start judging & finding her guiolty, why not wait for all the facts?
 @LocalLady Thank you for that  LocalLady
@LocalLady I have always wondered about those - so just anyone could get in the car (if the door was unlocked for instance), push the start button & drive away? That doesn't seem very secure. Is there no locking mechanism of some kind for the ignition?
I know it's off topic but I'm curious. Thanks.
 @katiemcc  @LocalLady There is a security system that won't allow the vehicle to start if the key fob isn't within range. Likewise, having both key fobs in the car can/will eventually cause the security system to default to no start as its only supposed to see one at a time.
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For some of these vehicles (Prius/Toy derivatives) not consistantly following starting/shut down procedures (getting in a hurry) can cause the system to stay on draining the battery and causing a need for restart.
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I see both types frequently in my job, and have to figure out how to get them running again.
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ain't technology grand...
Thank God she was the only person in the car, anyone in the backseat wouldn't have had a chance.
Maybe she was drunk. Maybe she had a medical situation like diabetes or a heart attack. Maybe wait to find out before assuming. Glad everyone survived.
Wow, glad those involved are mostly ok. I can't think of any reason that the vehicle should have been stopped in the lane unless she had hit someone/something ahead of her. Even if it totally shut off on its own, you could still coast it to the breakdown lane.
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*shakes head*
@theToucan What if it was stopped because the brakes locked up or a wheel bearing froze up & the wheel wouldn't turn? Can't really coast anywhere if the wheels won't roll. That obviously wouldn't explain why she had no lights on but it could be a valid reason for being stopped in the lane of travel.
 @katiemcc You want to know where I pick those cars up? At the side of the road, along with the ones that lose a wheel/tire. Have YET to see a vehicle that stopped immediately in its tracks (w/o being in an accident) with no option to make it to the road side unless the driver chose not to. Ever.
Whatever the reason you need to do this, at least put your hazard lights on!
And what kind of car was it? Mile post 98 is a fairly dark area anyway... Glad the truck driver was "no injured".. I aso wonder how in the heck they got her out of what is left of the vehicle she was in... Since the gas tank is in the rear, it is a lucky thing it didn't catch fire..
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iIt was a Kia Spectra
 @JFR you mean it used to be but now it is KIA foir sure...
 @Mr. H I "aso" wonder this too!
Any clue what type of car this was?
Have seen these fairly often, almost hit one myself. Just a drunk passed out in the middle of the freeway.
@Blindman But of course you must be right. Given the 4 sentences in the article that give very little information, you are able to deduce exactly what happened. Why do the police even need detectives? They can just call you.
 @Blindman That very well may be the case, but I also wondered if she may have had car trouble. Either seems possible.
If she had car trouble a rational person would have coasted off onto the shoulder of the road and turned her 4 ways on. Stupidity can be terminal. @two loons  @Blindman
 @LocalLady  @Blindman but she still could have coasted to the shoulder. that semi CRUSHED that shi77y Kia though!
@Blindman :If it was a battery/electrical issue, it is possible she had no ability to put the 4 ways on - if there was no juice, they would not work.
Wow....good thing she had no rear seat passengers!
 @Mikefly562 Would they know if there were?
 I'm going to have to agree with you there.
Wow I see this all the time. People have started thinking they can 'stop' on the freeway - like everyone else doesn't matter. Just earlier this week someone got onto an onramp in front of me, decided they were going the wrong way, stopped, and started going down the onramp in the wrong direction! Helllo! Good way to get yourself and others killed, quit thinking it's all about you and just get off at the next dang exit and turn around.
 @dgruntled Saw a person stopped in the right lane of Aurora recently... during morning rush hour. It created a huge backup. I didn't know what was holding up the traffic flow till I was almost past it, but I did notice that there was plenty of room on the shoulder where the disabled (I assume) vehicle could have easily been pushed off to. However, the driver of this car was just sitting there, looking confused and talking on their cellphone, and making zero attempt to take a minute to first push their car out of the right lane. I guess they figured that's what the tow truck was for... when it finally got there.
 @thetruncheon:Â
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".... where the disabled (I assume) vehicle could have easily been pushed off to ...."
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But what if the driver was disabled & pysically unable to push the car? There are MANY reasons why a situation such as you describe can happen.
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I remember a situation a few years ago. I was on south I% heading towards the Ship Canel Bridge. Traffic was moving at about 5 MPH. When I finally got to the 45th Street overpass, I saw a car stalled - it looked like it had been trying to change lanes so it was blocking 2 lanes.
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I pulled behind her at the same angle to block traffic from hitting her or me, then started pushing her car.  She was not strong enough to push the car - she had tried and been unable to move it.. She had at least put her flashers on.Â
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While me, a WOMAN, wearing shorts which fully exposed my post-op boot pushed this car to the shoulder, MANY men in trucks & other vehicles were honking & f;lipping the driver off, one even stopped, rolled his window down & swore a blue streak. But not one of the bothered to help push. I fell as the car picked up momnetum & got away from me, but eventually I was able to get her to the shoulder. I went back to my car, killed my flashers, and went on my way.
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So before you condemn someone in a situation like this, make sure you know all the facts. You *claim* they were "talking on their cellphone & making zero attempt to take a minute to push their car". How do you know they hadn't already tried to push it? They may very well have been on the phone with AAA when you saw them on their cell phone. If it had been me, I would have also been "sitting talking on the cell phone" - since I am diabled, I would not even attempt to push my vehicle. But, if you were to see me through my car windows, you would think there is nothing wrong with me - I look "normal" from the waist up. But I am a bilateral lower limb amputee.
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Do no *assume* you know everything just from what you may observe - you may not have the whole story.
 @katiemcc  @LocalLady Yes, and yes. True there are always exceptions to things. Sometimes there aren't shoulders, someone is too weak to push, etc. Perhaps that was the case in my rather lame example. However, there was plenty of shoulder, or at least seemed to be, and it was a level stretch of road too. I've helped many people push their cars off to the side of the road, and had folks help me to push my disabled vehicles as well. If the person on Aurora had been out pushing their car, attracting attention to their problem/situation, someone might have stopped to help. Or even reaching out their window, waving their arms might have had a similar effect.
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In the past, when pushing wasn't an option, I've matched bumpers with stalled cars and used my car to help get theirs off the road, out of danger. It's just that the traffic was so heavy I didn't even see this person and what I perceived the situation to be, till I was, literally, moving by in the other lane, that I didn't stop to help.
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It seems to me that the longer the vehicle is exposed to imminent danger, the higher the probability of getting hit is. I think that if it is at all possible to get the car out of the lane, one should do so as quick as one can, rather than just sit there waiting for "the authorities".
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All that said, I hope this unfortunate person recovers from their injuries quickly. That picture is very sobering.
@LocalLady @thetruncheon: I believe the police actually tell you, if the vehicle will not move on it's own STAY IN IT & call for help. If I was stuck in the lane of travel, my first call would be 911 to try & get an officer with flashing lights on site asap so I didn't get rear-ended. If this woman had been outside trying to push her car when the semi plowed into her, it without a doubt would have been a fatality instead of an injury.