Firefighters used a type of high-pressure air bag to lift a 2000 Dodge Neon off of its driver. / Courtesy photo Lewis County Fire District 2
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A Centralia man was hospitalized this morning after his car flew off of Interstate 5 near Vader, tumbling across a frontage road and landing on top of him.
It appeared Marco Ortiz-Garcia was ejected through the sun roof of his Dodge Neon, responders said, but it came to rest with its wheels down.
“The driver was talking to us from underneath the car,” Lewis County Fire District 2 Chief Grant Wiltbank said. “He was pinned, but not being crushed.”
Troopers and aid were called about 6:40 a.m. to the scene just north of the Gee Cees Truck Stop. The car had been traveling southbound and spun out before running down an embankment to the west, through a fence and stopping on the other side of Foster Creek Road, according to responders.
He was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital to be treated, Wiltbank said.
The car was totaled. The wreck was blamed on speed. Ortiz-Garcia, 27, was cited for second-degree negligent driving, according to the Washington State Patrol.
“He was very lucky; my goodness he was lucky,” Wiltbank said. “Somebody who goes through that kind of a crash normally does not walk away.”
About an hour later, a pickup truck hit a patch of ice about a quarter mile south of there and rolled, landing on its side, according to Wiltbank.
That driver was extricated after firefighters cut out the windshield, and suffered mostly bumps and bruises, Wiltbank said. He declined to got to the hospital.
Lewis County Fire District 6 was called later this morning to a rollover accident on Jackson Highway near Marys Corner. The driver was treated and released at the scene, according to Chief Tim Kinder.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Hondacats: the new line of thinking is that there is no such thing as an accident. They are even calling them collisions rather than accidents. If you think about it accidents don’t “just” happen. If you hit ice and are going too fast for conditions then you played a part in the collision. There are very few cases where a collision occurred that someone did not do something incorrect.
That includes following too close, driving too fast for conditions, etc.
Now I am not trying to start an argument with you either but just posting what I have learned.
Just curious….what ever happened to a good old fashioned “accident”? Now any time there is an accident of any kind, mostly all parties involved are issued a ticket! A friend wrecked on I-5 on Friday in snow along with several others in Grand Mound including cop who issued ticket also wrecked there. I understand there’s times that deserve a ticket but every single incident is a bit much. This guy is lucky to be alive to even receive that ticket!!