TACOMA, Wash. — Within a span of 10 hours, there were two crashes on State Route 509 Sunday.
As Washington State Patrol investigates one crash in Tacoma in which six people died, Tacoma Police are looking into another wreck, about five miles away, where eight people were injured.
“Speed is one of the four factors that play into (a) fatality collision,” said WSP spokesperson Trooper John Dattilo.
Dattilo says they’ve been responding to an alarming number of crashes on State Route 509.
“Since 2018, we’ve handled just shy of 370 total collisions, that includes everything from non-injury, just property damage collision, all the way to those fatality collisions,” said Dattilo.
This year alone, troopers say there have been three deadly crashes on SR 509, including the one from this weekend that killed six people.
“It looks like a good number of them are happening at or near that intersection,” said Trooper Dattilo.
Just up the road, Tacoma Police say on Sunday at around 1:30 a.m., two cars were racing and caused a massive wreck where eight people were injured.
Since Friday, Troopers say they’ve responded to 14 deadly crashes across the state. This comes at a time when historically we’re seeing more crashes than usual.
Troopers say the 90 days between June and September are the most dangerous. On average, the summer months account for 30% of traffic deaths statewide.
“Make sure that every time you get in the vehicle when you’re driving or riding in a car, put on your seatbelt, don’t drive distracted, and obviously, if you’ve been driving if you’re intoxicated, please don’t drive,” said Dattilo.
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