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Two die in early morning I-5 crash

Emergency crews rushed to northbound I-5 below Capitol Hill this morning after a crash involving a speeding BMW that smashed into the back of an ambulance traveling on the freeway. Two men died in the high-speed collision that shut I-5 down for hours before the lanes were re-opened around 7:30 AM. Details from the Seattle Times and this video report from KING 5:


According to the State Patrol, the two men killed were the driver and passenger in a silver 2002 BMW that was speeding north on I-5 around 2:45 a.m. The driver, a 23-year-old Brier man, clipped another car near the Mercer Street off-ramp. The BMW then struck an ambulance, which was on I-5 on the way back to its station from a call.

The Brier man and his passenger, a 23-year-old from Lynnwood, were pronounced dead at the scene. Neither man has been identified by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Both men were wearing a seat belt, troopers said.

While the crash remains under investigation, detectives have determined that the BMW was traveling at an extremely high rate of speed when it clipped the car and struck the back of the ambulance, said State Patrol spokeswoman Trooper Christina Martin. Alcohol appeared to be a factor, she said, but didn’t elaborate.

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etaoin shrdlu
etaoin shrdlu
13 years ago

And today’s Darwin Award winners are…

tim
tim
13 years ago

Nice bow tie on the trooper in the video. Fancy.

tiffany98122
tiffany98122
13 years ago

According to the Seattle Municipal Court, the driver had a previous DUI and pleaded down to negligent driving:

http://web1.seattle.gov/courts/cpi/CaseSummary.aspx?caseNo=4

Bobby
Bobby
13 years ago

Nice bow tie, darwin award winners…

have some respect. two people just died. that’s pretty tragic, but it’s nice to see some people think it’s funny when people die.

just terrible.

this is why I fly. and that’s not a joke.

DOD
DOD
13 years ago

I drove that stretch of I-5 this afternoon and noticed dozens of small marks from orange traffic paint across three lanes and skid marks that extended for too long… I knew something bad must have happened, but didn’t know the details until now. It looked like the aftermath of a really f’n wicked wreck. Unsettling.

DOD
DOD
13 years ago

I just read an article about the crash in the Seattle Times. The photos are chilling. They ought to park the wreckage of the car in the middle of college campuses to remind people about the results of drunk driving.

Rachel
Rachel
13 years ago

Seriously, this is funny for you? Two people died, and more could have been hurt. It is definitely not okay to drive drunk or speed, but it’s certainly a mistake that many, many people out there have made. Seriously, commenters who think this is so hilarious, have you ever driven drunk? Or let a friend drive off drunk? Or gotten in a car with a drunk friend? Or sped??? I bet you have, at some point. You probably justified it at the time, and got home okay, and hopefully decided to not make that mistake again. These guys made a mistake; no one is saying you need to cry for them, but I don’t think you need to laugh at them either. They drove drunk/sped. They’re freaking dead. Point made. You don’t need to drive it home any further.

SeattleSeven
SeattleSeven
13 years ago

You can’t take everything so seriously….

Life’s too short.

mobsters1987
mobsters1987
13 years ago

You really feel that bad for two people who died driving drunk come one they dont deserve respect what if those were kids in that car they hit to hell with em

hillster
hillster
13 years ago

anyone who dies at 23 died too young, even if they were an idiot driving recklessly after drinking. it’s a serious subject because it still happens far too often. keep an eye on your friends when they’re drinking so they don’t become the next victim of a mistake.

Rachel
Rachel
13 years ago

SeattleSeven-Oh yeah, death is a total joke! We should laugh hysterically when people in their early 20s die! It’s so hilarious.

Some things need to be taken seriously. Grow up.

etaoin shrdlu
etaoin shrdlu
13 years ago

I don’t know about laughing hysterically, but comments about the video’s nattily dressed trooper and how the driver and passenger removed their genes from the human gene pool don’t seem especially heinous. They’re more like observations rather than “total jokes” about death.

And as far as death itself is concerned, we really lack sufficient information to despair about it.

JB
JB
13 years ago

this kid, probably priviledged and white, got his just desserts…kid had violations before – Daddy can’t bail him out this time..

Auf Wiedersehen!