A Budweiser beer truck hit a sedan head-on near N. 85th St. & Linden Ave. N. around 2:30 Monday afternoon. Susan sent us these pictures of the accident, and an account of what happened.
The driver of the truck, who gave his name as Tim, said he was driving up the hill in the west-bound lane when the sedan crossed over the line into his lane. “He came right at me! ” said the driver, “I thought maybe he wanted to commit suicide.”
When the vehicles collided, the sedan driver’s head smashed into the windshield. The truck driver said the other driver’s air-bags didn’t deploy because his car slid under the cab.
According to the trucker, who was unhurt and not at fault, the other driver survived the crash. He was conscious, although bleeding from the head, and was taken to the hospital by an ambulance.
While we were standing at the corner of 85th & Linden, several fire trucks and police cars screamed past us toward Greenwood. The officer at the corner said two other accidents had just occurred - a rolled-over car, and another semi-truck/sedan head-on collision. Officers directed traffic off N. 85th onto side streets.
And David Liberty sent this picture of the scene too:
Thanks Susan and David!
12 responses so far ↓
1 NoNo // Dec 15, 2009 at 6:11 am
Let me guess…the guy in the sedan that crossed over the center line was DWT (driving while texting).
2 Hinto // Dec 15, 2009 at 8:10 am
I think it’s more fair to say the sedan hit the truck.
3 NSBill // Dec 15, 2009 at 8:39 am
I think that second picture pretty much confirms the car hit the truck. Unless of course we’ve recently changed to the English driving system unbeknownst to me.
4 NSBill // Dec 15, 2009 at 8:42 am
Errr…third picture…
5 Willy Nilly // Dec 15, 2009 at 9:05 am
Was the Saturn sedan passing another car?
6 Jim Wells // Dec 15, 2009 at 10:55 am
I did not see the accident, but came upon it shortly after. N. 85th has two lanes each east and west. The beer truck was heading west in it’s inside lane. The Saturn was headed east in the same lane and was embedded in the truck cab. So, the Saturn had crossed the center line into the westbound lane. This is a dangerous intersection and a Seattle Councilman ’s stepson was hit by a car and severly injured in it a few years back. I also have seen gomers yakking on their cellphones while trying to make high speed turns onto Linden North, so the texting theory expressed above may not be off the mark. Incredible that these people think their communications are more important than the safety of others. It can be called self-absorbed stupidity.
7 Iron City Mike // Dec 15, 2009 at 1:17 pm
That intersection is bound to get worse, now that you cannot make a right turn onto 84th Street from Aurora, and have to use 85th instead, then turn left on Linden.
8 another neighbor // Dec 15, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Since when can’t you take a right off of Aurora onto 84th?
9 David // Dec 15, 2009 at 9:37 pm
I took the third picture so you can see that my vantage point of this intersection is pretty good. This is the third accident in the last month at 85th and Linden. There was a hit and run vehicle crash and a pedestrian accident here recently. The big problem seems to be cars that are trying to use Linden as a short-cut and bypass the traffic on Aurora. Visibility down the hill and the constant traffic on 85th in both directions make crossing 85th on Linden almost suicidal, but every night from 4-7 pm there is a constant line of cars at the stop sign on Linden trying to make it across. It’s definitely a dangerous intersection.
10 Iron City Mike // Dec 16, 2009 at 7:57 am
@8: since about a week ago when they started construction of the new pilot larger bus stop. It’s going to remain that way permanently.
11 scot // Dec 17, 2009 at 9:02 am
ouch!
12 another neighbor // Dec 21, 2009 at 9:38 am
@Iron City Mike: Ahh, that would explain it, I was out of town, and thought huh? I turn there nearly daily. Now I’ve seen it. It’s really going to stay that way permanently? That sucks. I have always gone that route to avoid turning left at Linden or Fremont, since both are terrible dangerous intersections (Fremont less so now that we have a 4-way light).
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