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Accident Reconstruction Research: Guardrails

3 die, 1 injured when their car breaks guardrail, falls into Sound
by Dave Birkland
Seattle Times staff reporter

Three people died and a fourth was in critical condition today after their car crashed through a steel railing and chain-link fence and plunged 60 feet into Puget Sound in Des Moines.

The vehicle landed upside down in about 4 feet of water, the Des Moines Fire Department reported.

Two men and a woman, all believed to be in their 30s, were pronounced dead at the crash site, which is the end of South 240th Street near Fifth Avenue South.

A fourth person, a woman, was critically injured and at Harborview Medical Center this morning, a nursing supervisor said.

Des Moines Fire Lt. Kevin Body said the car carrying the four was going west toward the dead end but failed to turn. After hitting the guard rail and fence, the car traveled about 60 feet before becoming airborne, plunging nose-first off a steep embankment. The car landed on its roof in the shallow water.

Someone heard the crash and called authorities at 2:53 a.m., Body said.

All four victims were in the car when rescue crews arrived, Body said. Medics were able to get the surviving woman out, onto a boat and to the Des Moines Marina, where she was attended by medics before being taken to the hospital, Body said. Crews got the other three out, but they were pronounced dead.

There apparently were no witnesses to the crash. It's not known how fast the car was going when it went off the road.

Body said there have been no other accidents at the location for a long time.