Washington driver cited for crash

By Terry Murry on Tuesday, October 4th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

PENDLETON – Traffic was at a standstill for more than an hour when a car crashed into a log truck at the Y intersection of Southwest Court, Southwest Dorion, and Westgate Monday afternoon. Police Chief Chuck Byram said the driver was from Washington state.

“He was on Court trying to cross the railroad tracks and obviously was a little bit confused about what was going on there,” Byram said. “He drove right in front of a log truck which couldn’t stop.”

Byram said that traffic was blocked to allow the intersection to be cleared.

“There was significant damage to both vehicles,” he said. “One of the drivers received a little bit of an injury but he took himself to St. Anthony Hospital for treatment.”

Byram said the driver from Washington state was cited for failure to obey a traffic control device. The accident occurred at about 2:15 p.m. Monday and didn’t get cleared up until 3:35 p.m.

“It was quite a significant event just based on the time of day when there’s a lot of traffic out,” Byram said.