The Sequim area experienced six vehicle collisions in a 24-hour span between Thursday and Friday mornings (Aug. 24-25), with all incidents reported to have non-life threatening injuries.

“The incidents in a relatively short period of time stood out as a rather unusual pattern for this community,” said Chris Turner, Battalion Chief with Clallam County Fire District 3.

• The first non-injury incident occurred at 8:37 a.m. Thursday Aug. 24 just east of Sequim on the 27000 block of U.S. Highway 101. Turner reported that a driver going westbound was attempting to let another vehicle pass and was rear-ended.

• The second non-injury incident occurred at 2:15 p.m. Aug. 24 at the intersection of Hooker Road and U.S. Highway 101. A distracted driver was picking something up off the floor of their vehicle and rear-ended an RV going eastbound, Turner said.

• The third wreck at 2:28 p.m. Thursday was a rollover on the eastbound lane of U.S. Highway 101 by Kitchen-Dick Road. A driver was going about 90 miles per hour, Turner said, before it hit another vehicle, went in the ditch and rolled. The driver sustained non-life threatening injuries, Turner reported.

• On the 1800 block of Woodcock Road, a motorcyclist struck a deer around 5:11 p.m. on Thursday. He was transported to Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles with non-life threatening injuries, Turner said.

• The fifth wreck occurred at 7:07 p.m. Thursday in the City of Sequim at the intersection of Seventh Avenue and Prairie Street when a bicyclist rode into a vehicle.

Sgt. John Southard with Sequim Police Department said there were no charges filed against the bicyclist and he was transported to OMC in Port Angeles with hip pain and non-life threatening injuries.

• The sixth wreck — a single vehicle rollover — occurred at 4:41 a.m. Friday, Aug. 25 on the 1000 block of Atterberry Road.

Chief Criminal Deputy Amy Bundy with Clallam County Sheriff’s Office said the female driver was able to call 9-1-1, and had sustained injuries to her leg.

Law enforcement are not revealing the driver’s name due to her alleged involvement in an active criminal investigation, Bundy said.

The driver was extricated using the Jaws of Life, and was transported from Sequim Valley Airport via Life Flight to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, Turner reported.

Clallam County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate, Bundy said.

Added safety

First responders noted during the incidents that many motorists weren’t slowing down as they approached road incidents, Turner said.

“They become distracted as they are looking around, and nearly cause secondary collisions,” he said.

According to the Emergency Responder Safety Institute, “there are many incidents each year where firefighters, EMS personnel, law enforcement officers, and other emergency responders and roadway workers are struck by vehicles”.

He cautioned drivers to “slow down (to) save lives” and “always wear your seatbelt.”

Photo courtesy Chris Turner, Clallam County Fire District 3 An unnamed woman under investigation by Clallam County Sheriff’s Office was airlifted on Aug. 25 after she rolled a vehicle on Atterberry Road.

Photo courtesy Chris Turner, Clallam County Fire District 3 Firefighters with Clallam County Fire District 3 extricated a woman on Aug. 25 after she rolled her vehicle on Atterberry Road. The incident was one of six wrecks in a 24-hour span in the Sequim area.