Seattle Sound Transit train and car collide l Washington Accident Lawyer

Date: June 29, 2009
Location: Seattle, Washington. Rainier Valley
Type: Mass Transit Accidents
 
A motorist was injured on Monday, June 29th, in a collision with a Sound Transit light-rail train in Rainier Valley, the third incident sine frequent train testing began there this spring. The crash took place just after 5 p.m. next to the Othello light-rail station in Southeast Seattle. The car was heading south and made a left turn, against a red light, from MLK Way onto Myrtle as the train traveled south in the median of MLK. The driver of the car, a man in his 70s, was taken by ambulance to a near by hospital, suffering minor injuries. Emergency crews tore the roof off of his car to remove him.

The train was slowing down to approach the station when it T-boned the car. The crash caused only minor damage to a front panel on the train. The wreck was cleared around 6:30 and the train continued its testing. Sound Transit is testing its trains along the 14-mile route from downtown Seattle to Tukwila, in preparation for service that begins on July 18th.

This is the third incident involving a test train in Rainer Valley, where tracks run in a median at street level. Two of them were crashes with cars, and in one case, a person walked into the train.

Sound Transit officials claim their rail project has improved overall safety on MLK Way, by eliminating two-way left-turn lanes that used to play a major role in motorist and pedestrian injuries. Many think that the rail sections should have crossing gates but sound transit argues that trains are going at the normal traffic speed of 35 mph or less so this would not be necessary. An environmental-impact statement predicted 29 car-train collisions per year, based on data in other cities, but transit officials said actual numbers would be less in Seattle because of improved warning signals and road signs.

Critics of the project urged local politicians not to mix light rail with street traffic, though many U.S. cities, including Portland, run trains along arterial streets.