Port Angeles woman airlifted to Harborview after head-on collision

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A Port Angeles woman was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle Nov. 22 after she was involved in a head-on collision on state Route 20, about 9.5 miles south of Port Townsend. At about 8:09 p.m., Mark E. Burkhardt, 44, of Port Angeles, was driving a white 2017 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup eastbound on state Route 20 near Fairmont Road. Burkhardt became distracted by the ambient light from oncoming traffic and drifted to the right and into the ditch at Fairmont Road, said Krista Hand, Washington State Patrol public information officer. Burkhardt overcorrected and his vehicle veered back onto the roadway and across the centerline, where it collided head-on with a gray 2015 BMW X5 SUV driven by a 53-year-old Port Angeles woman, who was airlifted to Seattle after sustaining serious injuries, according to the State Patrol report. Both cars were totaled and towed from the scene after they fully blocked the roadway for about two hours. Burkhardt was cited for negligent driving.