Yesterday morning, a multi-vehicle collision involving a tanker truck and multiple other vehicles led to a traffic nightmare on southbound Interstate 5 near the Tacoma Dome. The initial impact, which the Washington State Patrol attributes to an unsafe lane change by a sedan, ended up with the larger vehicle wedged under the tanker; this complex scenario prolonged lane closures and caused significant delays, as reported by The News Tribune.
Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Tacoma was the first to report the accident, which unfolded when a tanker truck was pinned by a black sedan. According to KING 5, the sedan had made a risky maneuver that caused a pickup truck to spin into the semi-trailer, sparking a sequence of traffic-blocking events that led to two right lanes being closed during the morning commute. A miles-long backup ensued, and although traffic authorities worked diligently to reopen lanes in a timely manner, residual delays were an inevitable reality for southbound commuters.
Thankfully, as WSDOT informed, only minor injuries were reported from the site of the incident. Special efforts were made by the cleanup crew to ensure that no remnants from the previously carried contents of the tanker would spill during the clearing operations, as found in a statement offered by Washington State Patrol Trooper Kameron Watts and covered in an article by KIRO 7.
“What a crazy outcome,” Trooper Watts was quoted as saying in reference to the calamitous event, as noted by KING 5. The accident took a significant portion of the morning to resolve, with the crisis peaking when three of six right lanes were completely blocked. The left lanes remained open, allowing limited traffic flow before the roadway was fully cleared just before 9 a.m. However, the aftermath of the incident still lingered, with backed-up traffic for those heading into Tacoma.
