UPDATED — Traffic snarled, but none hurt, in log truck mishap on slippery U.S. Highway 101 west of Port Angeles
Published 12:01 am Sunday, December 21, 2014
PORT ANGELES — A log truck whose trailer drifted off slippery U.S. Highway 101 and became stuck before dawn Friday snarled traffic near Laird’s Corner west of Port Angeles for more than two hours.
No injuries were reported in the mishap, which later involved a self-loading log truck and a second vehicle that picked up and hauled off the spilled load so the original trailer could be brought back to the pavement.
No loads were lost, and the errant truck stayed upright.
Traffic on U.S. 101 about a mile southwest of the junction with state Highway 112 — Laird’s Corner — was restricted to one lane after the wreck occurred at about 6:30 a.m. and continued for about 2½ hours before two-lane travel was restored.
Sgt. Gailin Hester of the State Patrol said the driver, Merton Miller, 65, of Forks, was driving east into a curve near the Lake Aldwell overlook when his double-trailer drifted into soft mud on the shoulder of the road, left the pavement and came to rest in the ditch.
Signpost damaged
His truck, owned by Barry Swanson Trucking of Forks, was not seriously damaged, although the collision damaged a Department of Transportation signpost and scarred the shoulder of the road.
The driver was cited for speed too fast for conditions, the State Patrol said in a memo.
No drugs or alcohol were involved, the memo said, and the driver was using a seat belt.
Two towing vehicles and Clallam County Fire District No. 2 also responded to the scene.
