WA State Patrol Troubled After Deadly Weekend On State Roadways
Last weekend was a deadly one on the roadways of Washington State.
The Washington State Patrol (WSP) is reporting that 15 people were killed in a multitude of vehicle collisions statewide, and that since Monday, three more people have already lost their lives in traffic accidents on state highways - all involving motorcycles.
WSP Trooper Jeremy Weber says the stats are alarming and he and his agency feel there is a simple solution to curbing the fatalities.
"The bottom line is we all need to make good choices when driving. We believe that just one life lost is still too many, and this last weekend we tragically lost fifteen people to fatal collisions across the state."
Among the deaths were three people who were involved in a multi-car accident on State Route 26 near Othello in Weber's jurisdiction.
Weber says there is common thread involved with most of the fatality collisions that occur statewide.
"The top contributing reasons for these fatality collisions are excessive speed, impairment, distracted driving, and failure to yield the right-of-way. And most of the fatality collisions that I have personally responded to involved one of those factors."
The sobering incidents come during the WSP's Surviving the Summer campaign which aims to raise awareness about the state's highest 90-day stretch for traffic-related fatalities, which occurs annually between June 9 and September 7.
The 90-day period has on average accounted for 31 percent of all traffic-related deaths statewide over the past five years.
WSP troopers investigated 314 fatality collisions in 2022, including 37 percent which involved impairment; 27 percent involving speeding; and 31 percent in which vehicle occupants were not wearing their seatbelts.
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