BOTHELL — A Washington State Patrol trooper was injured late Wednesday while responding to an accident along I-405.
The accident, which happened around 10:45 p.m. just south of Highway 527 in Bothell, was the first of two collisions where drivers slammed into State Patrol squad cars in a matter of hours.
Bad weather and speed are blamed for the first crash that sent trooper Joshua Jackson, 34, of Lake Stevens to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, said trooper Keith Leary, a patrol spokesman.
The second collision occurred around 2:15 a.m. Thursday on State Avenue in Marysville. Troopers are investigating whether the driver who crashed into a trooper was intoxicated. No one was hurt in the second accident.
Jackson suffered pain in his neck and back, Leary said. The injured trooper was expected to be released from the hospital Thursday,
The trooper was stopped to help investigate another collision. Jackson’s emergency lights were on but a Lynnwood woman, 21, driving a small passenger car, apparently didn’t see the stopped vehicles and crashed.
“We don’t know why she didn’t see the trooper,” Leary said.
Jackson was sitting in his patrol car at the time of impact, Leary said. The woman was taken to a local hospital to be checked out, but wasn’t seriously injured.
About four hours later, a pickup truck slammed into a patrol car on State Avenue near 80th Street in Marysville.
Both the trooper and the pickup driver, a Everett man, 23, escaped injury.
State law requires people to slow down when drivers see emergency lights. It also requires them to give police plenty of room, Leary said.
So far this year, troopers handling emergency situations alongside state roads have been involved in 14 accidents, resulting in 4 injuries, records show. Driving too fast for weather conditions was the primary cause of the crashes.
Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com.
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