Off Hill but a pretty common path for travels, 24th Ave E’s curvy speedway claimed another collision early this morning prompting a large emergency response to a car vs. pole accident near the intersection with East Newton.
On January 22nd at approximately 2:18 am, East Precinct officers responded to a call of a one vehicle collision into a telephone pole at 24th Avenue East and East Newton Street.
Apparently the car, a 2003 Kia Optima, was driving south on 24th Avenue East approaching East Newton at a high rate of speed. The driver of the car lost control and crossed over the west curb and collided with a street sign, the rockery, and rolled over, colliding with a telephone pole. Officers arrived and discovered that the male passenger had exited the car, but that the driver was still trapped inside. The Seattle Fire Department arrived and was able to extracate the driver. Both the driver and the passenger were transported to the hospital for treatment of their injuries, none of which are life-threatening. There was no indication of any intoxication on the part of the driver. The 19 year-old driver was cited for several things, including reckless driving.
Earlier this month, CHS covered a 2-car accident at the top of the 24th Ave hill. We’ve pulled this map from the data available at SeattleCrime.com showing recent car accidents requiring 911 call-outs around Capitol Hill. As you can see, the 23rd/24th Ave artery is a good place to slow down.
24th Ave. runs through a neighborhood business district, past a Seattle Public Library branch and a block from an elementary school. It is lined with residences and is a major transit route with people waiting at bus stops literally three feet from speeding traffic.
I have spoken with SPD officers who have clocked vehicles as high as 61 mph on this street. The vast majority of the time there is no enforcement other than the laws of physics. The speed limit is 30 mph. Even many locals routinely speed. Thankfully there were no deaths in this incident, but a jogger was killed at 24th/Boyer in recent years. There will be more tragedies unless people slow down.
I’m looking forward to the day when technology enables us to first automatically ticket and then revoke the license of who drives more than 5 over the limit, and the car itself warns you first.