POULSBO — A 65-year-old Port Angeles man was killed Tuesday morning in a three-vehicle collision on state Highway 3 near Poulsbo.
The highway was completely shut down for nearly four hours due to the wreck, which involved a semi truck, panel van and a small passenger car.
https://www.facebook.com/PoulsboFire/videos/1761612223862237/
The crash occurred near the Big Valley Road interchange, just south of Lofall Road.
The Port Angeles man, whose identity has not yet been released, was the driver of the panel van and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The other drivers involved did not appear to have any serious injuries.
State Patrol Trooper Russ Winger said he received reports of the wreck around 7 a.m.
An early investigation, Winger said, seemed to show that the van was traveling northbound when it crossed the center line before striking the southbound semi truck just behind the cab.
UPDATE: Troopers hope to have one lane open at scene of fatality collision SR3 in 30-40 minutes. pic.twitter.com/tGaMy3BKW2
— Trooper Russ Winger (@wspd8pio) March 13, 2018
“After the van struck the semi, it veered back toward the right, and the passenger car that was trailing that white van couldn’t stop and struck the rear of the white van,” Winger said.
At 10:58 a.m. Winger reported that the scene had been cleared and reopened to traffic.
Recent wrecks
This is the second traffic-halting collision to occur on that stretch of highway in four days.
A crash occurred last Friday near Pioneer Way and Tytler Road, and blocked both lanes of traffic.
The Tuesday morning crash isn’t even the first fatal head-on collision to happen in the past six months.
On Sept. 27, 2017, a motorcyclist traveling north toward the Hood Canal Bridge was struck and killed by a vehicle after it crossed the center line near Big Valley Road and Highway 3.
It was later determined that the driver of the vehicle had been under the influence when the collision occurred.
“Anytime you have two-lane opposing, high-speed traffic, it’s not safe in my opinion,” Winger said. “With the high volume up there and with the traffic stopping and going, things happen. It’s somewhere we go quite often.”
Widen the road?
According to Winger, the state Department of Transportation needs to widen the road along Highway 3 and separate the lanes of travel.
“Eventually they’re going to have to widen that [road] and make it separated, at least two lanes and possibly some sort of barrier. … Eventually that’s going to have to happen there, but who knows when that will be?”
Winger suggested that drivers traveling on Highway 3 maintain a safe distance from vehicles ahead and obey posted speed limits.
Driver distractions, Winger added, also play a big role in causing otherwise preventable collisions.
“We’ve found that distractions cause a lot of the problems that we have today. People are looking down, or doing other things that take their eyes off the road and rear-end people that are in front of them, stopped in traffic, or cross the center line.”
3/3 Fatality collision involved three vehicles, over centerline initiated collision. Tows have been called DOT is on scene assisting with traffic. pic.twitter.com/T6icioCaJk
— Trooper Russ Winger (@wspd8pio) March 13, 2018
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Nick Twietmeyer is a reporter with Kitsap News Group. He can be reached at ntwietmeyer@soundpublishing.com.
