PORT ANGELES — It’s been a bloody 24 hours for a short length of U.S. Highway 101.
Out of three wrecks within a four-mile, mostly two-lane stretch between Port Angeles Wednesday evening and Thursday evening, no one has been killed.
But five have been taken to Olympic Medical Center and one man walked away from the crashes.
Trooper Brian George, a spokesman for State Patrol, said while the wrecks occurred in a relatively short stretch, drivers must remain alert and cautious wherever they are driving.
He also noted that most wrecks are preventable.
“It’s ultimately the person sitting behind wheel that is responsible for keeping themselves safe,” he said.
“State Patrol will do what we can.”
Three crashes
James E. Martino, 25, of Port Angeles was airlifted to a Seattle hospital Wednesday night following a two-vehicle wreck on U.S. Highway 101.
He was showing some improvement, a spokeswoman at the hospital said.
Then, on Thursday afternoon, about two miles from the scene of Wednesday’s crash, two Sequim teenagers drove off the road, putting one of them in the hospital.
The third crash occurred Thursday evening when two vehicles crashed head-on near Sequim, sending both drivers to the hospital with broken bones.
Most recent wreck
Thursday evening’s crash occurred near Boyce Road and required traffic to be detoured for about 45 minutes.
A Geo Metro and a Dodge pickup truck smacked head-on near milepost 260 at about 6:30 p.m.
The Geo tried to stop too late for a car waiting to turn left and crossed the centerline, said Trooper Ken Ahrens.
The driver of the truck was transported to Olympic Medical Center as a precaution after he complained of neck pain.
The driver of the Geo was taken to the hospital for a broken hand and leg, Ahrens said.
No other information on the collision was immediately available.
Seriously injured
Martino suffered head, chest and back injuries when the 1983 Mazda 626 he was driving slammed into the back of a large pickup truck near South Barr Road at 7:19 p.m. Wednesday, the State Patrol reported.
Martino was traveling eastbound while a 1996 Ford F-350 driven by William A. Rowlett, 65, of Sequim was stopped near milepost 258, waiting for oncoming traffic to clear so he could turn left.
Martino crashed into the back of Rowlett’s pickup truck, State Patrol reported.
Personnel from Fire District No. 3 extricated Martino from the vehicle.
Both drivers were wearing seatbelts. Rowlett was not reported injured.
The two eastbound lanes of the highway were closed for almost four hours while investigators and rescue workers cleared the roadway.
Traffic was diverted through Kitchen-Dick Road and Old Olympic Highway. The westbound lanes of the highway remained open.
Martino was taken to Olympic Medical Center, then airlifted to Harborview Medical Center.
He was listed in serious condition in the intensive care unit Thursday, said hospital spokeswoman Susan Gregg-Hanson.
“We’re seeing some improvement,” she said.
“Probably tomorrow we anticipate he’ll be out of the I.C.U.”
Earlier Thursday crash
On Thursday at 11:48 a.m. two teenage girls were traveling westbound near milepost 256 when their 1994 Chevrolet pickup left the road to the right, struck a drainage culvert, and launched down an embankment, State Patrol reported.
The driver, a 17-year-old Sequim girl, was taken to Olympic Medical Center for treatment of a cut on her head.
The 16-year-old passenger, also from Sequim, was taken to the hospital for observation.
Both girls were wearing seatbelts.
Fire District No. 3 responded to all three wrecks.
