3 injured Aug. 15 near Quilcene

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Three New Mexico motorists were taken to area hospitals after the motorhome in which they were riding Aug. 15 was forced off the road by a tractor trailer on U.S. Highway 101 near Quilcene.

The maroon Freightliner tractor trailer was hauling a livestock trailer south on Hwy. 101 when the driver failed to see that a gray BMW sedan ahead of it had stopped or slowed for another vehicle that was making a left turn, according to the Washington State Patrol (WSP).

The Freightliner braked and steered into the northbound lane, causing the driver of a northbound Tradewinds RV to make an evasive maneuver to the right shoulder, causing the RV to roll onto its driver’s side. The RV was also towing a SUV.

The Freightliner then went back into the southbound lane, striking the BMW.

The driver of the RV, a 74-year-old man from Santa Teresa, New Mexico, and a 70-year-old female passenger were both injured. They were taken to Jefferson Healthcare Medical Center in Port Townsend. A 93-year-old female passenger in the RV also was injured. She was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

The two women in the RV were not wearing seat belts, according to the WSP. The other people involved in the crash were wearing seat belts. Neither drugs nor alcohol was a factor, according to a report of the incident.

WSP officials concluded the cause of the crash was that the driver of the Freightliner, a 52-year-old man from Yakima, was inattentive and following too closely.