A car drove into a Carl's Jr. restaurant off Highway 99 in Vancouver on Monday morning, tearing into the dining room before anyone had opened the doors for the day. No one was hurt, but the crash has left investigators trying to figure out exactly what sent the vehicle through the seating area in the first place.
Officials from Clark County Fire District 6 said they responded to reports of a car crashed into the restaurant's seating area, according to KOIN. The restaurant was closed at the time, which meant the dining room was empty when the vehicle came through it. That timing is almost certainly the only reason nobody was injured in the crash.
As of Monday, the cause of the crash remained unknown while authorities continued their investigation, the station reported. No information has been released about who was driving, how fast the vehicle was going, or what led it to leave the roadway and strike the building. The extent of the damage to the Carl's Jr. itself has also not been detailed.
A Pattern Playing Out Beyond Vancouver
Vehicles crashing into restaurants is hardly unique to this stretch of Highway 99. In North Seattle, a driver crashed into the side of a restaurant early Monday morning, leaving significant damage to the vehicle, per KOMO News. That incident also involved a downed power pole and damaged wires near Greenwood Avenue North.
Farther south, a driver crashed into a restaurant in southwest Portland in August, causing major damage to the building, according to KPTV. And in Texas, Austin Police responded at 8:49 a.m. to a crash at Keso's Tacos on Spicewood Springs Road, as reported by KXAN. Each of these cases involved its own circumstances and remains separate from the Vancouver incident, but together they illustrate how often dining rooms end up on the receiving end of a wayward vehicle.
Back in Vancouver, the investigation into Monday's crash is ongoing, and no further details about the driver or the cause have been released. For now, the closed restaurant's empty seating area appears to be the only reason the incident didn't end far worse.
