A 29-year-old Puyallup man is dead after speeding through a stop sign and slamming into another vehicle near South Hill late Monday night, according to the Pierce County Sheriff's Office. The crash happened around 11:09 p.m. at the intersection of 134th Avenue East and 144th Street East, leaving one driver dead at the scene and sending another to the hospital.
The man killed in the crash was identified as Joshua Cook, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiner's public portal. As reported by the News Tribune, Cook was driving south on 134th Avenue East and was speeding as he approached the stop sign at 144th Street East. He failed to stop, according to the Pierce County Sheriff's Office news release cited in that report.
A 22-year-old man was driving west on 144th Street East at the time and had the right of way, the sheriff's office said. His vehicle struck Cook's car in a T-bone-style crash. Cook was pronounced dead at the scene, while crews transported the 22-year-old driver to a hospital with injuries described as non-life-threatening.
Right-of-Way and an Open Investigation
The sheriff's office said the 22-year-old driver was not impaired, and no arrests have been made in connection with the crash as the investigation remains active. Under Washington State law, drivers approaching a stop sign must come to a complete stop and yield the right-of-way to any vehicle already in the intersection or approaching closely enough to pose an immediate hazard, according to RCW 46.61.190.
The intersection sits along a corridor that has seen deadly traffic incidents before. Less than two months earlier, on August 19, a driver suspected of being intoxicated rear-ended a stopped motorcyclist at high speed along 144th Street East at 94th Avenue East in South Hill. The driver was arrested on suspicion of DUI and vehicular homicide, according to The News Tribune.
Growth and Transportation Planning
Pierce County's Vision Zero Action Plan aims to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries on county roads by 2035.
Washington's basic speed law requires drivers to travel at a safe speed for conditions.
Fatal Traffic Statistics
Pierce County averaged 88 fatal traffic crashes annually between 2021 and 2025, while the county averaged 62 traffic fatalities per year between 2015 and 2020.
There is some encouraging news at the state level: preliminary data released in May showed Washington traffic fatalities fell 18% to 659 in 2025, down from a 33-year high of 809 deaths in 2023, according to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission. Still, the decline has not reversed the pattern locally, and Hoodline has reported on another fatal crash on Pierce County's Canyon Road East just weeks earlier.
In April 2025, the Pierce County Council passed Resolution R2025-132, adopting the county's Vision Zero Action Plan with a goal of eliminating all traffic fatalities and serious injuries on county roads by 2035. The plan, funded by a federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grant, passed on a 4-3 council vote. Whether the 134th Avenue East and 144th Street East intersection will see any future traffic-calming review under that framework remains unclear, as crash reconstruction in Monday's fatal collision is still ongoing.
