A 20-year-old Sumner man died at the scene Tuesday afternoon after his car crossed into oncoming traffic and slammed into a tree along State Route 410 in Greenwater. Washington State Patrol identified the driver as Brock Lewis, who troopers say was heading westbound at high speed just before the crash around 3 p.m.
Highway Closed for Hours After Impact
Washington State Patrol says Lewis lost control while driving at high speed on SR 410, crossed into the oncoming lane, and struck a tree, killing him instantly, according to The News Tribune. The roadway remained blocked for about four hours as crews worked the scene, the outlet reported. Details on what caused Lewis to lose control, including whether speed alone was a factor, have not been released beyond the state patrol's account carried in that report.
Tuesday's fatal crash happened along a stretch of SR 410 that has seen repeated tragedy this year. Less than two months earlier, on July 16, a car carrying three women left the roadway near Greenwater and struck a tree, killing one passenger and hospitalizing two others in their 20s, according to PNW Daily. Washington State Patrol reported that drugs and alcohol were not factors in that July crash, which happened near milepost 53, just miles from where Lewis died.
A Highway That Turns Rural and Unforgiving
State Route 410 runs 107 miles from Sumner through Enumclaw and Greenwater across Chinook Pass, shifting from a multi-lane urban freeway near Sumner into an undivided two-lane surface highway hemmed in by forest timber in East Pierce County, per Wikipedia. The corridor also serves as the primary route to Mount Rainier National Park and Crystal Mountain, funneling both commuters and tourist traffic through the same narrow stretch of trees where Tuesday's crash occurred.
The danger isn't limited to this one stretch. In October 2024, a multi-vehicle crash on SR 410 near Enumclaw killed two people and led to vehicular homicide charges against a 63-year-old driver following high speed and improper lane maneuvers, according to KING 5 News. That crash required emergency airlifting of multiple survivors to Seattle trauma centers. Hoodline also reported on a fatal wrong-way crash on nearby SR 164, an undivided corridor that connects directly to SR 410 in East Pierce and King counties, illustrating how the region's mountain highways share similar structural hazards.
Part of a Statewide and Regional Pattern
Washington State Department of Transportation data shows lane departure crashes, which include running off the road and crossing into oncoming traffic, resulted in 1,451 fatal and serious injury collisions statewide in 2023, a 39.1% increase compared to 2019. State transportation planners report that nearly two-thirds of fatal lane departure crashes involve hitting a fixed object such as a tree. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission has determined that excessive speed is a contributing factor in more than half of all run-off-the-road fatal crashes statewide, making speed reduction a top priority under the state's Target Zero campaign, per the Washington State Department of Transportation.
Pierce County has seen its own surge in traffic deaths, averaging 88 fatal crashes annually between 2021 and 2025 compared to 62 per year between 2015 and 2020, according to the Freeman Law Firm. WSDOT collision logs attribute the regional increase primarily to excessive speed and lane departures. Young adults between 18 and 25 remain disproportionately represented in the state's traffic fatalities, which hit a 33-year high of 810 deaths in 2023 and stayed near historic levels through 2024 and 2025, per the Washington State Patrol.
Rural Response Times a Persistent Concern
Greenwater residents and community leaders raised concerns during a July meeting with Pierce County sheriff officials that law enforcement response times along rural SR 410 can exceed an hour, since patrol units are heavily concentrated in urban centers like Tacoma and Puyallup. Local sheriff leadership has sought additional funding for dedicated mountain patrol units to address the gap. It is not known whether response times played any role in Tuesday's crash near Greenwater.
Lewis's death adds to a stretch of 2026 that has already tested SR 410's safety record, from the July fatality near milepost 53 to ongoing scrutiny of the corridor's undivided lanes and forested shoulders. Washington State Patrol has not released further details on the circumstances that led Lewis to cross into oncoming traffic before striking the tree.
