SEATTLE — A 26-year-old man is in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center after a suspected DUI collision on State Route 520 Sunday morning.
According to the Washington State Patrol, a Hyundai Elantra was heading east in the westbound lanes and struck the 26-year-old head-on.
The driver of the Hyundai was a 60-year-old man from Kirkland, who was not injured in the crash. He is suspected of DUI and vehicular assault.
All lanes of SR 520 Evergreen Point Floating Bridge across Lake Washington, as well as access to the highway from 84th Avenue Northeast, were closed from around 1:30 a.m. to 4 a.m. for cleanup and investigation of the collision.
A spokesperson for Harborview Medical Center said Sunday evening that the 26-year-old remains in critical condition in the ICU.
The incident is one of the latest in a string of crashes related to impaired driving across the region.
Another wrong-way driver suspected of impairment caused another collision in Seattle just an hour after the crash on SR 520.
In November, over a span of five days, six Washington State Patrol cars were hit. At least four of those incidents were linked to drivers suspected of being drunk or high.
State data shows deadly crashes in Washington have spiked over the last nine years. Half of those crashes can be linked to impaired drivers, according to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.
Experts say the pandemic added fuel to the fire, increasing reckless driving across the state.
“At the same time that we’re seeing those high risk behaviors going up, law enforcement capacity went down,” said Mark McKechnie, with the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.
Officials with other departments told KIRO 7 it’s not just impaired driving they’re worried about, but also speed too.
“The majority of our crashes that end up in fatalities, the number one factor in those is speed and reckless driving,” said Sgt. Darren Moss Jr. with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.
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