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Auburn man killed in crash that shut three lanes of I-5 in Fife

Tractor-trailer involved in collision with motorcycle driven by Battle Ground man

The Columbian
Published: September 27, 2014, 5:00pm

An Auburn man was killed Saturday morning when he lost control of his motorcycle and was hit by a truck on Interstate 5 in Fife, the Washington State Patrol reported.

It’s not clear what caused the crash that killed Jason Karwhite, 42.

Witnesses did not report seeing signs of erratic driving before the truck hit Karwhite in the northbound lanes of Interstate 5, trooper Guy Gill said. Neither drugs nor alcohol was a factor in the accident, Gill said.

Troopers closed down the three center lanes of Interstate 5 in Fife to investigate the 11:10 a.m. crash. It led to a 9-mile backup that took about three hours to clear. The University of Washington football team and the Seattle Sounders soccer team both had 1 p.m. kickoffs in Seattle on Saturday.

Karwhite was riding a 2007 Harley-Davidson. He reportedly crossed a line of the highway before he was hit by a tractor-trailer driven by a 53-year-old man from Battle Ground.

Gill said police do not expect the accident to lead to felony charges. Troopers are seeking more witnesses to piece together what happened.

“It’s very likely there are more witnesses than we know about, especially because it happened on I-5 on a Saturday morning,” he said.

Also Saturday, another motorcycle accident in Sumner caused critical injuries to a 56-year-old from Tacoma. The accident took place at the same time as the one on the interstate in Fife — 11:10 a.m.

In Sumner, the motorcycle rider was behind a Jeep Cherokee going north on state Route 167. The jeep slowed down and the motorcycle driver hit it, according to the State Patrol.

Gill asked witnesses to the Fife crash to call the State Patrol at 253-538-3240 and press option 4 to speak with dispatch.

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