Members of Lewis County Fire Districts 5, 15, 2 and 8 along with Lewis County Medic One responded for five vehicle collision on U.S. Highway 12. / Courtesy photo by Alicia Pentecost
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Three vehicles were totaled in a multiple-vehicle rear-end chain reaction collision that sent seven people to the hospital this afternoon on U.S. Highway 12 about two miles east of Interstate 5.
Troopers called at 2:14 p.m. found that Jacob I. Hadaller, 29, of Mossyrock, was westbound approaching Jackson Highway where four pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles were stopped for the traffic light.
Hadaller’s 2006 Dodge Ram collided with the rear of a 2011 Dodge Dakota, pushing it into a 2016 Nissan Rogue SUV, which was shoved into a 1998 Ford Expedition SUV, which in turn ran into the back of a 2006 Ford Escape SUV, according to the Washington State Patrol
Firefighters and medics from Lewis County Fire District 5 responded, assisted by personnel from four other departments.
District 5 Lt. Laura Hanson indicated the seven patients were transported to Providence Centralia Hospital for evaluation and treatment.
Hadaller was reportedly uninjured but cited for second-degree negligent driving, according to the state patrol.
The intersection is commonly known as Mary’s Corner.
The driver of the Dodge Dakota, Martin K. Fisher, 49, of Olympia was also uninjured, but three of his passengers were. They are ages 15, 15, and 51, all from Olympia.
The driver of the Nissan Rogue, Diane K. Wilkie, 61, Ilwaco, was hospitalized as was the driver of the Ford Expedition, William G. Dix, 32, Centralia, according to the state patrol. Dix’s passenger Amanda L. Ailes, 39, Salkum, was also injured.
General L. Cothren, 71, Winlock, was driving the Ford Escape and reportedly unhurt. His passenger, Gregg Robinson, 65, Winlock, was transported.
Only the Expedition and the Escape were able to be driven from the scene, the investigating trooper reports.
The incident was blamed on inattention.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
When you drive you take you’re life in your hands. Sometimes I say Prayer before I drive, we are not in suits of armor behind the wheel of an automobile. We are mortal and traveling in a tin can at high speeds can be life altering in thd blink of an eye. I see texters all aroud me daily. It’s a jungle out there. O myself often always plan an escape route by staying far enough away from cars to move if nesecary, In fact I have avoid 3 rear ending accidents by this technique. Sortta say you must also have eyes in the back of you’re head. Not all wrecks are avoidable, but Using IPDE driving skills you can limit Injury. Please dont use. Your phone while driving it can wait.
Lynndee, you need to be quiet. Your ignorance is shining thru brightly. The roads are public, anyone gets to use them, city people have nothing to do with a punk who is too busy to pay attention to driving and is too cheap or lazy to obtain car insurance. Hadaller, your a disgrace to yourself and your family. Just how the hell do explain a lack of attention that results in such pain and suffering for so many? I hope you pay dearly for your lack of “Give a S@#t”
“The major problem is we have all these people coming to Lewis County congesting our highways”
What does this have anything to do with a local 29yr old driver not paying attention to his driving and causing a serious accident? This guy is an unsafe driver anywhere. If you can’t watch where you’re driving – congestion, expansion, impatience, etc has nothing to do with this. Telling the state that this idiot was not watching the road will do nothing. There was no passing or crossing double lines involved. Wake up!!! This jerk should not be driving on any roads – good roads or bad roads – he cannot drive. And telling people to stay out of Lewis County is BS.
WARNING: OLYMPIA WONT FIX OUR ROADS. SOME LOCAL DRIVERS DO NOT WATCH ROAD & DO NOT CARRY INSURANCE. CITY FOLKS PLEASE KEEP OUT!!
First of all, Mr. Fisher, I wish you a speedy and full recovery from your injuries. You are indeed fortunate.
However, you contradict yourself in your second paragraph, leading with “Blaming the incident on driver inattention is a joke,” but then closing it by saying “…he didn’t think to pay attention to the road in front of him.” Gotta be one or the other.
Also, Sharyn has to go with what the reports provide her and most only state whether a driver or passenger was transported to the hospital or not. Inaccurate phrasing? Yes, but she had nothing else to go with beyond what info LCFD 5 released to the media.
I do agree with you completely that Negligent Driving 2 is a wrist-tap charge, though. Causing a wreck this size with that many people needing medical attention should bring something more serious in the way of charges.
Good luck dealing with both your injuries and insurance carriers.
The major problem is we have all these people coming to Lewis County congesting our highways with NO funds from Olympia tax dollars that come here.
Hwy 12 is a military highway that is a complete failure to that purpose.
This hwy should have been expanded years ago by the state of Washington.
I hate being on this hwy because people drive so dangerously…..and the ones that have caused it are impatient city drivers, passing on corners, hills, crossing double solid lines, passing on shoulders, and high rates of speed.
I’m sure Mr. Hadaller was distracted by something, and I don’t condone him not having insurance, but instead of yelling at him, tell at the state.
It only takes a moment to notice our roads, bridges and highways are in poor repair, outdated and dangerous.
All the while Olympia, Tacoma, Seattle etc has beautiful landcapped, lighted, New bridges, roads, brick artwork ect.
Going through Lewis county is a traffic nightmare because of the blatant refusal of state officials to keep our Republican county from getting money to fix things.
I’m sorry people got hurt in our rural farming community, but if more of you would stay out of Lewis county there wouldn’t be the city like congestion on the roads that are not able to handle it.
As the driver of the Dodge Dakota who was stopped at the stoplight and the first vehicle hit by Mr. Hadaller’s truck, I would like to correct an inaccuracy in the article and add some reality to the situation. The article says I was uninjured but in reality I was injured. I was not transported by ambulance to a hospital for my injuries but that doesn’t mean an injury didn’t occur. I’ve spent all of Monday dealing with dizzy spells, drowsiness, and loss of hearing in my left ear, how can a reporter conclude I wasn’t injured? 7 people required ambulance transport to the ER, that should be the statement in the article, not 7 people injured.
Blaming the incident on inattention is a complete joke, the incident was caused by utter incompetence of a human so incapable of driving he should never be allowed near an automobile again. Multiple drivers saw the red light and stopped, I was the last in line and was stopped at least 5 seconds before Mr. Hadaller rammed me at full speed. He could have swerved to the gently sloped shoulder and missed me (and all other vehicles), or he could have applied his brakes like a competent driver and avoided the collision. He did neither because he didn’t think to pay attention to the road in front of him.
A bit of investigative reporting would have found that not only is Mr. Hadaller the most incompetent driver in Washington state, he also is too cheap to carry insurance to pay for the damage he inflicts on other motorists that follow the basic driving laws (e.g., red light means stop). Apparently Mr. Hadaller thinks he’s too special to take personal responsibility and pay for insurance to cover the damage he causes. He’s only 29, so he’s thinks everybody else should take care of him and pay for property damage and injuries he’s caused.
Had I been on a motorcycle, Mr. Hadaller would have killed me. Had I been driving an economy car, Mr. Hadaller would have killed the back seat passengers. He sent 7 people to the hospital because he wasn’t looking and didn’t see a red light clearly visible to every other driver. He’s the perfect example of how you as a driver can do everything right, and get killed by somebody too stupid to stop when the light is red. Citing him for 2nd degree negligent driving is a free pass for him to get back out on the road and do the same thing until he finally does kill somebody.
Wonder if he got his Pokémon….?
Great covetage