Traffic was clogged up on Harrison Avenue in Centralia yesterday evening after a three-vehicle collision, but no serious injuries were reported.
Troopers and aid were called about 5:20 p.m. to the wreck on the 2800 block of Harrison Avenue, about one mile north of the city limits.
The Washington State Patrol blamed the crash on inattention, when the 17-year-old driver of a 1990 Toyota Camry was distracted by something outside his car and rear-ended a 2009 Kia Optima, pushing that car into a Ford 450 flatbed truck.
A northbound lane was closed for about an hour and motorists were rerouted onto a side street, according to the Riverside Fire Authority.
The driver of the Kia, Rebecca L. Freeman, 41, was taken by ambulance to Providence Centralia Hospital with possible neck and back injuries, according to the state patrol. The Rochester woman was treated and has been released, the hospital said this morning.
The two cars were described as totaled and the truck sustained an estimated $1000 damage, according to the responding trooper.
Franklin C. Swenson, 17, of Rochester, was to be cited for second-degree negligent driving, according to the state patrol.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter