MEC&F Expert Engineers : 1 KILLED AFTER TRUCK GOES THROUGH OVERPASS GUARDRAIL, CRASHES ONTO I-5 BELOW IN TACOMA, WASHINGTON

Saturday, April 11, 2015

1 KILLED AFTER TRUCK GOES THROUGH OVERPASS GUARDRAIL, CRASHES ONTO I-5 BELOW IN TACOMA, WASHINGTON











APRIL 10, 2015

TACOMA, WASHINGTON

One person is dead after a truck struck a guardrail on the L Street overpass and fell onto Interstate 5 southbound lanes. 

No other cars were hit. 

Authorities advised drivers to take alternate routes after a crash on the southbound lanes in Tacoma Friday afternoon, but the highway still backed up to Federal Way during the evening commute.

The crash happened before 4 p.m.

At about 4:40 p.m. WSDOT officials said the backup was about 12 miles.
All lanes on I-5 have since been opened. 

All lanes of I-5 reopened by about 6:30 p.m.

Authorities are still investigating what caused the driver to leave the road.  They are not releasing any information about the driver and are referring most questions to the medical examiner.

Shon Sullivan was traveling along southbound I-5 when he saw debris flying off the overpass.  He swerved in time to avoid being hit by the falling truck.
“It was quite startling,” Sullivan said.  “[The road] was wide open, and I was about to move right into that lane.”

Sullivan has a dash camera that recorded video of the falling debris.  Another video sent to KIRO 7 shows concerned drivers stopping to do what they can for the person in the truck.  About a dozen people can be seen flipping the truck over to try and get the person out.
Source: http://www.kirotv.com