Over the weekend there was a 45-car pileup accident that happened on southbound I-5 in Kent, Wash. This forced the closure of all five lanes on southbound I-5 to allow for first responders and tow trucks to get to the scene.
KING 5
Traffic jam due to the accident.
The accident occurred on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024 around 1:20 p.m. and expanded a little over five miles in total. The road wasn’t reopened until around 4:15 p.m. – almost three hours later. Although at that time, even though lanes reopened, they were still working on clearing up the debris.
While the road was closed, traffic was being directed toward SR 516 until all the cars had been removed from the accident.
The Washington State Department of Transportation said that “once all vehicles are removed a sand truck will come in and clean up a minor oil spill.”
A post from Trooper Rick Johnson on X (formally Twitter) stated, “Please slow down! These collisions were caused by drivers going too fast, not the road or weather conditions. #DriveSafe”. The reason stated for the accident was the driver was going at a speed not ideal for the weather conditions.
KOMO News
Tow trucks respond to help clear cars after the 45-care pileup.
A report from a person present at the scene when it happened said some of the main reasons for the accident was because of the pouring rain and the sun reflecting off the wet pavement which blinded the driver.
Even though this was a big accident, there were only minor injuries and luckily no major injuries that happened. This serves as an example that when driving in unconditioned weather you should always drive under or the same speed as the posted speed limit.