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Updated at 5:16 p.m.
ELDERLY CHEHALIS LOG TRUCK DRIVER DIES ON THE ROADWAY
• The truck driver who died yesterday on U.S. Highway 12 in Rochester was an 83-year-old Chehalis resident. Joseph P. Haunreiter was traveling eastbound when his 1979 Kenworth tractor and empty log trailer left the roadway, went through a guardrail and then hit a tree near Denmark Street, according to the Washington State Patrol. The cause of the wreck is under investigation, according to the state patrol. The approximately 4:30 p.m. crash shut down the highway for about five hours. Haunreiter died at the scene, his rig was destroyed.
INATTENTION ON I-5
• Four vehicles were towed and a Rochester woman transported to Providence Centralia Hospital after a 23-year-old driver from Ellensburg who wasn’t paying attention struck the back end of a car which was slowing for stopped traffic on Interstate 5 in south Centralia today, according to the Washington State Patrol. Shane A. Brady, 23, was issued a citation for going too fast, according to the state patrol. Teri L. Ramdsdell, 50, from Rochester, who was driving the Honda CRV he hit was taken to the hospital with unspecified injuries, the investigating trooper reports. Troopers called about 1:20 p.m. to the northbound lanes near milepost 81 indicate the CRV was pushed into a Kia Sportage, which in turn was shoved into a 2002 Acura.
CAR PROWL
• Centralia police were called about 3:40 p.m. yesterday about a vehicle prowl at the 2400 block of Cooks Hill Road. Money was taken, according to the Centralia Police Department.
• An officer was called to the 1100 block of Harrison Avenue about 10 o’clock last night regarding a vehicle prowl. Someone broke a window to get inside, according to the Centralia Police Department.
AND MORE
• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for warrant, harassment, driving under the influence, driving with suspended license; responses for hit and run, misdemeanor theft … and more.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
It seems interesting someone of 83 would hold a class ‘A’ CDL.
I do not know the circumstances behind the wreck. Although I have seen the spot after it occurred – a flat, straight stretch of dry pavement on the small bridge betwixt Denmark Street and Hilt Road to the west. The marks on the bridge guardrail seem to show the truck was making contact with the railing. It left the road right along the trajectory of the guard rail. It was a bright sunny late afternoon, the sun would have been in the west – the driver was traveling eastbound. Was age a factor? I don’t know.
However, in all candor – and, we’ve all seen this – drivers of advanced age in personal vehicles navigating about city streets, failing to use turn signals – coming to complete stops in the middle of busy arterials with 45 mph speed limits – to let a vehicle on a side road enter the arterial in question. In general just being perplexed about the situation at hand.
People (mostly) get older and reaction and cognitive abilities are often compromised – it’s just a natural thing.
R.I.P. Mr. Haunreiter.
I hope I have the energy to keep working at 83.