All southbound lanes of State Route 167 just north of State Route 18 in Auburn were shut down Monday afternoon after a fatal collision between a motorcycle and a passenger vehicle in the toll lane, forcing every southbound driver onto 15th Street NW as the only way around the scene.
The closure was first reported by WSDOT Traffic
, which posted a closure alert noting that southbound SR 167 at SR 18 was shut due to the fatal car-motorcycle collision and urging drivers to use alternate routes, with more information to come.
MyNorthwest
, WSDOT closed southbound SR 167 near Emerald Downs after the crash.
The shutdown quickly rippled outward. The outlet reports that backups extended north along SR 167 toward Kent on Monday afternoon, with state officials offering no immediate estimate for when the roadway might reopen.
A Dangerous Stretch of Highway
This isn't the first deadly wreck at this interchange. In December 2025, a fatal three-vehicle crash near the same SR 167 and SR 18 junction killed a 29-year-old Bonney Lake man after a semi-truck rear-ended a stopped passenger sedan, according to the Auburn Examiner, which reported that prosecutors cited probable cause for the driver's arrest and that bail was set at $100,000. Prosecutors had not yet received a felony case referral or made a charging decision.
Just months later, in June 2026, two people were killed and two more injured in a high-speed rollover on SR 18 in Federal Way, after state troopers recorded a car traveling over 130 mph before it crashed, per footage reviewed by KOMO News.
The southbound closure sent drivers onto local streets in Auburn, including 15th Street NW.
Crash Investigation
FOX 13 Seattle reported that the cause of the crash was unknown and that the number of deaths and any other injuries were not yet known.
The crash occurred in the toll lane.
A Statewide Pattern for Riders
The Auburn crash lands amid broader, if improving, statewide trends. Preliminary 2025 data from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission shows motorcyclist fatalities fell to 103 deaths statewide, down from 113 in 2024 and a historic peak of 142 in 2023.
Even with that decline, motorcyclists remain far more likely to die on Washington roads than their numbers would suggest. Motorcycles make up only about 3 percent of registered vehicles in the state, yet riders accounted for roughly 16 percent of all traffic fatalities between 2021 and 2025 — 584 rider deaths over that five-year span, the commission's data show. Overall traffic deaths statewide have also eased, falling 18 percent from a 33-year high of 809 deaths in 2023 to a preliminary count of 659 in 2025.
A recent White Center crash sent a rider to Harborview.
