PORT ANGELES — The State Patrol expects to cite a Port Angeles woman after her car knocked a light pole over onto another vehicle, snarled rush-hour traffic and cut electrical power to about 950 Clallam County Public Utility District customers Monday.
Gail Matheny, 71, of Port Angeles will be cited as the driver at fault, but it was uncertain Tuesday as to exactly what the charge will be, said Trooper Russ Winger, State Patrol spokesman.
Matheny was driving a 1988 Toyota pickup truck eastbound on U.S. Highway 101 at about 4:30 p.m. when she made a last-second right turn into the Mount Pleasant IGS market parking lot, Winger said.
She missed the turn and sheared off a light pole at the ground, he said.
The light pole fell into the right eastbound lane of Highway 101 and landed on a 1994 Toyota Corolla driven by Wayne Billmark, 54, of Sequim.
Billmark said he had just turned out of the IGS parking lot and saw the pole falling toward his car.
“I put the pedal to the metal, but it wasn’t enough,” he said.
The pole crushed the Corolla’s roof lengthwise on the passenger side.
Billmark was not injured.
The light pole, with blackened arc marks where it hit a power line, remained in the eastbound lanes until it was removed by PUD crews.
In addition to the damage to the Toyota, the pole also cut through a power line, which left about 950 customers without power for about 30 minutes, according to Michael Howe, PUD spokesman.
Traffic on U.S. 101 was slowed for about a mile in either direction because power was cut to traffic signals, and a State Patrol trooper directed traffic for more than an hour until Department of Transportation crews were able to restore signal functions.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
