SEQUIM — Two people were injured Wednesday when the Ford Explorer they were riding in was hit from behind on U.S. Highway 101 near Dryke Road between Port Angeles and Sequim, State Patrol said.
State Patrol said Carol Ann Kitts, 64, was driving the SUV when it was struck from behind by a Nissan pickup truck driven by Vanessa Bentley, 31, of Port Angeles on the eastbound shoulder.
Kitts and her passenger, Phillip Kitts, 65, of Port Angeles, were taken to Olympic Medical Center with neck and back pain, troopers said. They were discharged from the Port Angeles hospital by 5 p.m.
Bentley was not injured.
Troopers said the Kitts’ grandchildren, an 11-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy, who were also in the SUV, were not injured.
The children accompanied their grandparents to OMC, State Patrol said.
Both vehicles were traveling eastbound and slowed down for traffic ahead. They had pulled onto the right shoulder when the collision occurred.
Dryke Road is on the one-lane section of the state highway, which the state Department of Transportation plans to widen to two lanes in both directions between Port Angeles and Sequim.
Drugs or alcohol were not involved in the 11:35 a.m. wreck, State Patrol said.
Both vehicles sustained reportable damage. The 2004 Ford Explorer was taken to Frankfurth Auto Body and Towing. The 2004 Nissan pickup was driven from the scene.
All five people involved in the wreck were wearing seat belts, troopers said.
