QUILCENE — A Port Hadlock garbage truck driver and a Port Townsend dump truck driver were hurt Tuesday morning in a head-on collision on a snow-covered stretch of U.S. Highway 101 near Mount Walker.
The wreck closed the link between Quilcene and Hoodsport for more than eight hours.
State Patrol Trooper Casey Corey said that Conrad L. Dickey, 39, was cited for driving at a speed that was too fast for conditions at time of the crash, about 10:20 a.m.
Dickey was driving a 2002 Hookline International garbage truck loaded with a Dumpster north on Highway 101 when, at a hilltop turn, he collided with a 1993 Peterbilt dump truck driven by Ivan W. Manthe, 51, of Port Townsend, carrying a full load of sand.
The State Patrol said that both drivers, both of whom were traveling alone, were transported by ambulance to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Dickey sustained possible broken ribs while Manthe might have suffered a broken femur, the State Patrol said.
Repeated attempts Tuesday to contact a supervising nurse at Harborview Hospital for conditions on both drivers were unsuccessful.
Snow fell thickly over the wreck.
“The trooper said there was about an inch of snow on the road, and 6 inches when he left,” Larry Evans, Washington State Patrol communications officer.
“He skidded across the center line due to the snow and speed,” Evans said of garbage truck driver Dickey.
The impact caused the garbage truck to break apart, the cab of which was torn off, leaving the chassis and engine wreckage in the middle of the highway alongside a Dumpster the truck was carrying, Evans said.
The Dumpster remained intact and did not spill its contents.
The southbound dump truck was driven just off the edge of the southbound lane, its front left fender damaged and tire smashed in.
The highway closure stranded several commercial and chip truck drivers southbound on Highway 101.
Both drivers were wearing seat belts and no drugs or alcohol were involved, the State Patrol reported.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
