Just one day after SDOT hosted a meeting to review plans for changes on Rainier Ave., another car has slammed into a building. This one is (again) at Rainier and Orcas–the last time this location was hit was December 20th, 2014.
Adding them all up, that’s about seven car vs. building incidents in just under a year. If you think that’s about seven too many, be sure to check out the proposals SDOT is considering (just one post below) to help stop these types of avoidable and dangerous incidents.

Photo by Matt C. From: Columbia City Facebook group
You’ve got to be kidding me.
how would the proposals prevented this? It seems like it is most likely a driver that was turning from Orcas onto Rainier and lost control of their steering. Perhaps distracted driving? Not sure how, if any of the proposals were in place, that it would have prevented this.
I am not sure of the specifics of how this particular accident happened, but turning lanes, signals, better visibility, etc. could have possibly prevented this. My guess is that it was somehow connected to someone trying to make a difficult turn during rush hour…or, someone speeding.
During rush hour, the Orcas/Rainier intersection is pretty hard to make a turn at. Like a lot of Rainier, the current state of that intersection lends itself to a lot of risk taking (for both vehicles turning, and people wanting to zip around those who are turning).
Lower speeds on Rainier (which equals better visibility and more reaction time), better enforcement, safer driving conditions, better traffic flow, etc. All of those are part of the proposals.
[…] seventh building crash happened Feb. 27, through the front door of Rainier Beauty Supplies, at Rainier and South Orcas […]
[…] seventh building crash happened Feb. 27, through the front door of Rainier Beauty Supplies, at Rainier and South Orcas […]