Davis Law Group, P.S.

Four injured in US 97 collision

Story Highlights:
Four injured in Toppenish car accident
Motor vehicle collision caused by failure to stop



Date: March 30, 2011. 03/30/2011
Location: Toppenish, Yakima County, Washington
Type: Car accident, Motor vehicle collision
Outcome: Four injured

Four people were injured in a motor vehicle collision near Toppenish on Wednesday morning.

While driving on Highway 97, four people were in a 2004 Dodge Ram pickup, driver 72-year-old Glenn Fewel and three passengers: 23-year-old Omar Salvador, 18-year-old Antonio Esquivel, and 93-year-old Doyle Wetmore. They were struck by a 1993 Chevy Suburban at the Larue Road intersection. All four people who were riding in the Dodge Ram were injured and three were taken to Toppenish Community Hospital.

The driver of the Chevy Suburban, 28-year-old Oscar Hernandez-Nieto was injured but treated by paramedics at the scene and not hospitalized.

Eveyrone involved in the accident were wearing their seatbelts. Washington State Patrol has reported that the cause of the collision was Hernandez-Nieto's failure to stop at the stop sign at the Larue intersection. The investigation is still ongoing and citations are pending.

Toppenish Fatal Accident Statistics for 2007
Fatal accident count: 1
Vehicles involved in fatal accidents: 1
Fatal accidents caused by drunken drivers: 0
Fatalities: 1
Persons involved in fatal accidents: 0
Pedestrians involved in fatal accidents: 0

National Car Accident Statistics

• Nearly 43,000 people died in car accidents in 2002, reports the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
• More than one-quarter of Americans have been involved in a car accident in the last five years.
• About 26% of drivers have been involved in a car crash in the last five years.
• There were 17,419 alcohol-related fatalities in 2002.
• Deaths from rollover crashes totaled 82%.
• For the past five years, motorcycle fatalities have been steadily increasing.
• Deaths of motorcyclists aged 50 and over have climbed by 26%.
• Every 13 minutes, there is a death caused by a motor vehicle accident.
• Car accidents claim our very youngest and our very oldest populations.
• Americans from the ages of 1-33 are more likely to die from a car accident than from anything else.
• Elderly adults aged 75 and up are most affected by motor vehicle crashes.

Washington State Obedience to and require traffic control devices
The driver of any vehicle, every bicyclist, and every pedestrian shall obey the instructions of any official traffic control device applicable thereto placed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, unless otherwise directed by a traffic or police officer, subject to the exception granted the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle in this chapter.
See RCW 46.61.050 for more information.

Seattle Car Accident Injury Attorneys
If you or a family member has suffered as the result of a car accident, Seattle car accident attorney Chris Davis and the Davis Law Group, P.S. can help you. We understand the devastation that can occur as a result of being in a serious auto accident. We are committed to helping car accident, trucking accident, and motorcycle accident victims recover the just and fair compensation they are entitled to receive under the law.