Motorist suffers serious injuries in head-on collision in Thurston County 

A motorist suffered serious injuries when the vehicle the individual  was driving collided head-on with a dump truck on 148th Avenue SE near Runyon Road in Thurston County on Tuesday, July 22.

Thurston County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Southeast Thurston Fire Authority responded to the crash that resulted in the driver being extracted from the vehicle that collided with the dump truck.

The driver of the vehicle, initially believed to be unresponsive, later showed signs of life and was airlifted from Wilkowski Park to an unidentified hospital, said Sheriff Derek Sanders in a social media post.

An investigation determined the vehicle was traveling in the wrong direction at the time of the crash. The dump truck driver attempted to swerve left to avoid a collision, but the vehicle simultaneously moved back toward its correct lane, resulting in the head-on impact. 

The dump truck driver was not seriously injured and is not considered at fault in the incident. The dump truck driver also took quick action to disconnect the vehicle’s battery, as smoke and sparks began to appear, preventing further danger at the scene. 

“It is not clear why the driver of the passenger car was driving the wrong way down the road, but it sounds like the driver may have a number of encounters with LE (law enforcement) recently involving reckless driving/eluding,” Sanders said.