EVERETT — The family of a Monroe woman, who died in a head-on collision on U.S. 2 in 2024, filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against the Washington State Department of Transportation on Nov. 24. in Snohomish County Superior Court.
The complaint alleges that despite a history of serious collisions along U.S. 2, the Washington State Department of Transportation did not take proper action to correct hazards on the roadway.
Around 6:30 p.m. Feb. 21, 2024, a Snohomish man in a Toyota Highlander was headed west on U.S. 2 near Three Lakes Road when he crossed the center line and crashed head-on into a Toyota Sienna headed east, according to the Washington State Patrol. First responders pronounced the Toyota Sienna’s driver, Tu Lam, 55, dead at the scene.
Police were investigating the man on suspicion of DUI. The crash closed U.S. 2 for about five hours.
The complaint alleges that the roadway was already responsible for multiple fatalities every year before the crash. It references data from 2011 to 2015, which shows 11 fatal and serious cross-center line crashes between milepost 3.8 and 12.85.
Lam’s collision occurred near milepost 6.7, court documents said. The complaint alleges the department knew the one-mile stretch between mileposts 6 and 7 was dangerous for drivers, with three fatalities, one in 2015 and two in 2018, occurring before Lam’s death.
Washington State Department of Transportation spokesperson Barbara LaBoe told The Daily Herald in an email on Tuesday that the agency was aware of the lawsuit and unable to comment due to pending litigation.
“WSDOT continues to work with communities and partners toward our state’s Target Zero goals,” she said in an email. “Any death on a roadway is one too many.”
According to the complaint, the department recognized the dangers faced by drivers, and a legislative earmark established funding to improve U.S 2 safety.
In 2017, the department prepared a report noting the fatal and serious injury cross-center lane crashes on this stretch of roadway and said “additional cross-centerline crashes that did not result in fatality or serious injury provide evidence that this manner of collision occurs frequently on this high-speed undivided facility,” court documents said.
The Washington State Department of Transportation decided to place a concrete median barrier from milepost 3.8 to 5.85, but opted for a 6-foot median buffer between milepost 5.85 and 12.85, court documents said.
A 2017 crash analysis report said the median buffer will not mitigate the cross-centerline crashes as effectively as a concrete barrier would, but the “evaluation of the median buffer treatment will give DOT a better idea of how this low cost countermeasure affects safety performance,” court documents said. The complaint alleges the department’s decision was “arbitrarily made without a conscious balancing of risks and advantages.”
The complaint alleges the department’s failure to erect concrete median barriers, reducing the planned median from 6 feet to 4 feet, and a lack of adequate signage and lighting between Milepost 6 and seven constitute negligence.
The complaint asks the court for judgment against the defendants, special and general damages, plaintiff’s costs and attorney’s fees, prejudgment interest and other relief the court deems just.
Jenna Millikan: 425-339-3035; jenna.millikan@heraldnet.com. X: @JennaMillikan
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