SEQUIM –– Medics treated three people for minor injuries after a wreck involving two cars and a semitrailer prompted the closure of U.S. Highway 101 for about an hour and a half late last week.
The wreck happened shortly after 2:30 p.m. Friday and left one car in a ditch and another blocking the highway at Barr Road.
The highway was clear by 4 p.m., the state Department of Transportation said.
Emergency medical technicians with Clallam County Fire District No. 3 treated minor scrapes, and no one was taken to a hospital, said State Patrol Trooper Rick Ward, an investigator at the scene.
Ward said the two cars were traveling westbound through the construction zone near the Barr Road intersection.
Description of wreck
The lead car — a 2003 Kia sedan driven by Stacy O’Connell, 31, of Sequim — slowed because of traffic and was hit from behind by the second car, a 2006 Toyota Corolla driven by Triston Cortani, 21, also of Sequim, Ward said.
The collision spun O’Connell’s car into the oncoming lane, where it collided with a 2006 Peterbilt tractor-trailer driven by Erik Mickelson, 46, of Des Moines, Wash.
An infant riding in the Kia was unharmed, Ward said.
Ward said Cortani told him that he had looked away from the road and did not notice that O’Connell had slowed.
The back of the Kia was crushed from the initial contact, and the front passenger segment was severely damaged from the collision with the semitrailer, Ward said.
Cortani’s Toyota ended up in the north ditch with a crumpled front end.
All involved were wearing seat belts, Ward said.
No citations were issued.
The State Patrol is investigating whether the second driver should be cited for inattentive driving.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.
