Two airlifted after tow truck crushes car

Published 4:00 pm Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Two persons were airlifted to the hospital after their vehicle was struck head-on by a tow truck on the highway Tuesday morning.

The accident was reported at 8:25 a.m. south of Seabold Church Road, Bainbridge Police traffic officer Rob Corn said.

For reasons that were not immediately clear, the southbound tow truck veered off the road into the ditch, then crossed back into the oncoming highway lanes. It collided head-on with a Subaru Outback and overturned onto that vehicle, trapping the occupants.

The Subaru driver and passenger, both from North Kitsap, reportedly sustained injuries to their lower extremities, although the seriousness was not known.

A third vehicle, a Honda Accord, rear-ended the Subaru, but no occupants in that vehicle were reported injured. The towtruck operator, a Bremerton man, also did not report any injuries.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation, but may have been tied to a medical condition suffered by the driver, Corn said. Intoxication or recklessness did not appear to be factors.

Traffic was detoured around the scene for four hours while crews cleared the roadway. In an unrelated incident, a dumptruck reportedly went into the ditch nearby before the highway was re-opened.