Fatal late-night collision on Gig Harbor highway shuts down road for nearly 6 hours
.jpg "An early Saturday collision on eastbound State Route 16 in Gig Harbor killed a motorcyclist, according to WSP.")
An early Saturday traffic collision on eastbound state Route 16 in Gig Harbor has left a motorcyclist dead.
The accident, just after 1 a.m., shut down a portion of the highway with traffic re-routed for hours overnight.
According to the Washington State Patrol, a Federal Way woman driving a 2014 Honda Civic was traveling the wrong way in an eastbound lane of the highway near Rosedale Street Northwest.
The driver struck a female motorcyclist who was driving eastbound in the same lane head-on, sending her into the median.
The motorcyclist, from Shelton, has not been identified pending next of kin notification.
The Federal Way woman’s vehicle came to rest on the right shoulder, facing the wrong way. The motorcyclist was pronounced dead shortly afterward by emergency workers.
The other driver, suspected of driving under the influence, was transported to St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, and booked on suspicion of vehicular homicide.
The highway was blocked eastbound at Burnham Drive for nearly 6 hours afterward, with drivers rerouted at the exit.
This story was originally published October 7, 2023 at 9:58 AM.
