PORT ANGELES — A Port Angeles man who was killed as he tried to walk across U.S. Highway 101 in the dark just east of Deer Park Road on Wednesday has been identified as William B. Shuler.
He was 81 years old.
Shuler crossed in front of a 2018 Chevrolet Spark driven by Mary J. Taffar-McGill, 72, of Beaver, in the right westbound lane at about 6:41 p.m., the State Patrol said in a collision memo.
The collision occurred east of Deer Park Road near a designated U-turn for highway traffic near milepost 253, said Trooper Chelsea Hodgson, State Patrol spokeswoman.
“It wasn’t a designated crosswalk or anything like that,” she added.
Authorities did not know why Shuler was attempting to cross the highway.
The crash remained under investigation Thursday. There was no indication that drugs are alcohol were involved, Hodgson said.
“As always, we’re thinking about the family and everyone else who is affected by it,” Hodgson said in a telephone interview.
“These are always hard for not only the people that are involved, but for everyone else who’s responding and trying to help.”
Hodgson said she did not know what color clothing Shuler was wearing.
Sunset occurred at 6:12 p.m. in Port Angeles on Wednesday. Civil twilight ended at 6:43 p.m., about two minutes after the crash.
Taffar-McGill was not injured in the collision, according to the State Patrol memo. She was wearing a seat belt. The car she was driving was completely destroyed, troopers said.
Shuler was pronounced deceased soon after the crash. Next of kin were notified by Olympic Medical Center staff, the State Patrol said.
Clallam County in 2014 opened a $4.8 million underpass that connected Deer Park Road to Buchanan Drive about a half-mile west of the scene of Wednesday’s crash.
County officials designed the underpass to reduce fatal collisions on U.S. Highway 101 in the Deer Park corridor.
Since 2014, the State Patrol investigated three fatal crashes between mileposts 252 and 254: a car vs. motorcycle collision near Morse Creek in June 2018, a one-car rollover near the State Patrol detachment in July 2019 and Wednesday’s crash, Hodgson said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
