Deadly crash on SR-512 in Parkland



A semi truck driver headed eastbound on SR-512 pulled into a gore point hours before dawn Wednesday morning, planning to update his GPS.

As he sat in the space between SR-512 and the SR-7 exit, WSP investigators say another car slammed into the back of the truck, never slowing down. The second driver died before she could be rushed to the hospital.



A gore point is the v-shaped space between a main road and an exit.  While it is legal to pull into the space to use your phone, Washington State Patrol Trooper Brooke Bova says it's far from the safest option for drivers.

"We would prefer that if anybody needs to use their phone or their GPS that they pull off to a big parking lot, a park and ride; someplace a little bit off the road."

Another incident on SR-512

The deadly crash was not the only issue on SR-512 Wednesday morning.  A WSDOT worker, setting up cones and flares to protect investigators working around the first crash, had to dive out of the way when a suspected drunk driver smashed into her DOT vehicle.

Bova says the WSDOT worker saw a car speeding towards her, and managed to jump over the guard rail in time to escape.

The crash damaged the DOT truck and mangled the car, sending a passenger to the hospital in critical condition. Officers arrested the car's driver for DUI and vehicular assault.