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Slick freeway blamed for injury accident

Thursday, February 26 | 10:13 a.m.

BY CRAIG BROWN, COLUMBIAN STAFF WRITER

Slick road conditions and driving too fast were blamed for a Thursday morning accident on Interstate 5 at milepost 14, five miles north of Vancouver.

A 31-year-old Longview man, Yuwil A. Muhammad, suffered leg injuries in the accident, which occurred in the northbound lanes of the freeway about 6:22 a.m. Light snow had fallen in the area overnight, and the temperature was near freezing.

The Washington State Patrol said the accident occurred when Mathew R. Clark, 23, of Amboy lost control of the Toyota he was driving. He regained control, but then a Mercury sedan driven by Muhammad spun around and struck his vehicle.

Both cars slid off the road onto the right shoulder.

Muhammad was taken to Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland. His condition was unavailable at mid-morning.

by Roger Wilco : 2/26/09 10:53am - Report Abuse

I really think the Columbian (and other media, of course) say things like this just to set me off! Slick roads never caused a wreck. The human driving too fast or talking ont he cell phone did! This is like saying guns cause crime and spoons cause obesity.

by John Q Public : 2/26/09 10:58am - Report Abuse

You should probably just get over it. The slick roads did contribute to the accident by making the driver unable to control the vehicle when the driver normally would have been able to control it. Can't blame the road though, as the article would want you to believe.

by s douglas : 2/26/09 11:13am - Report Abuse

The driver is the idiot....SLICK ROADS = SLOW DOWN

by St Jimmy : 2/26/09 1:36pm - Report Abuse

You 3 guys sound like the ones going 20mph on the freeway because snow is falling. Slick Roads = Learn how to drive on them and get the proper equipment to, or stay home. Going slow on a sheet of ice is going to do nothing for you, you are still going to slide when you try to brake.

by John Q Public : 2/26/09 2:23pm - Report Abuse

Sorry to disappoint you, but I drive just fine on all road surfaces. You shouldn't make assumptions, you know what it makes you look like.
I didn't write anything to say I don't drive fine. But if you think driving 70 on that stretch of road on ice is the same as driving 20 on ice, you are freakin crazy! Lets see- sliding at 20 will make you slide, oh, about 100 feet at most. Sliding at 70 means you will slide probably 1/2 mile or more, unless you hit someone or something (car, ditch, barrier cables in the median, etc). Good luck with that thinking, but please only drive like that when you are completely alone on the freeway. You will hurt someone.

by Dudley Doright : 2/26/09 7:26pm - Report Abuse

People who live north of Vancouver should be used to it. They closed I-5 in both directions last month to let the tow trucks clear the lanes because of all the spinouts. I've seen UPS trucks on their side in the median in the icy mornings (not this year..).

It's very likely a combination of overconfidence, road conditions, and either vehicle speed or obstructing vehicle speeds. Washington's left lanes are not express lanes, they're PASSING lanes. If nobody's to the right of you, move over.

SUV's are not immune to spinouts and four wheel drive means very little if your tires lose traction. The freezing fog's played out, can it just go away? I've also seen people spin when moving to the right too abruptly to pass the guy doing 35 in the left lane for no apparent reason.

That's actually sort of amusing, swerving to make a point, and making an entirely different one about themselves.

by St Jimmy : 2/27/09 8:29am - Report Abuse

Hi John, it looks like you like to make assumptions about my driving too, we all know how that makes you look especially after you pointed out me doing it. Im sure your "just fine" driving on all road conditions means you slow down and think your all season tires will grip good as long as you are going slow. This is fun making assumptions, lets keep going back and forth.

by John Q Public : 2/27/09 9:51am - Report Abuse

I said "if" you think driving 70....
That is not an assumption.
Not sure why you would think trading assumptions is fun (that's not an assumption, you said it). I don't get my kicks that way, so I am done with this.