Photo by Jeff Clemens - Truck vs. car accident in Raymond.
Jan. 26 at approximately 1:36 p.m. a commercial truck with a 57 year old male driver and 22 year old male passenger, both of Tacoma, Washington ran a red light and struck a sport utility vehicle with a 54 year old male driver and 60 year old female passenger inside both were from Poulsbo.
Raymond PD and Raymond Fire were both on the scene within minutes of the dispatch. Raymond PD was aided in the their investigation by South Bend Police, Washington State Patrol, and Washington State Patrol Commercial Vehicle Enforcement. Menlo Fire also responded to the scene, but was quickly cleared to return to their station.
One of the occupants in the sport utility vehicle required extrication and was removed fairly quickly by Raymond Fire. Both occupants of the vehicle were transported to Willapa Harbor Hospital by ambulance with minor injuries, but were expected to make a full recovery. The occupants of the the box truck declined aid.
Officer Fuller's scene report provided to the Herald by Raymond Police Chief Chuck Spoor stated, "During the course of the investigation it was determined that the box truck driver was at fault and that he had fallen asleep behind the wheel."
WSP Commercial Vehicle Enforcement performed a thorough inspection of the box truck prior to removing it from the scene and listed multiple violations on their report.
The driver of the box truck was cited for Negligent Driving in the 2nd Degree and the box truck was tagged out of service by WSP Commercial Vehicle Enforcement.
Prior to the crash it was reported to the us by a resident who had been in the area at the time , that the box truck had been traveling at a high rate of speed down HWY 101 coming into Raymond from Butte Creek Hill.
AAA conducted as study in 2016 that concluded driving drowsy can be just as dangerous as drunk driving and nearly as deadly of a combination behind the wheel of a vehicle as driving under the influence.