Richard Sherman’s very bad night highlights need to protect these Washingtonians

Sometimes it takes the irresponsible behavior of a high-profile celebrity to draw attention to a problem that goes unnoticed by far too many people.

Consider last week’s arrest of former Seattle Seahawk Richard Sherman.

The Super Bowl champion and former All Pro cornerback had a late-night clash with family members and police at his wife’s parents’ house in suburban King County. He later entered not guilty pleas on misdemeanor charges of malicious mischief and criminal trespass (both domestic violence charges), plus driving under the influence, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest.

You could say this ugly episode reinforces the need to confront domestic violence in Washington, and you wouldn’t be wrong. When a father-in-law feels compelled to use bear spray to defend his family, it shines a light on the vulnerability of DV victims.

But Sherman’s no-good-very-bad night exposes different dangers the public often overlooks, experienced by everyday heroes who put their lives on the line in Washington’s asphalt jungle.

We’re talking about first responders, road construction workers, WSDOT incident response specialists and tow-truck drivers.

Overnight highway crews are lucky they weren’t injured (or worse) when Sherman, after reportedly drinking two bottles of hard alcohol, drove through an active construction zone east of Seattle on July 14. The Washington State Patrol was alerted by a road worker shortly before 1:30 a.m. The 2014 Mercedes soon became disabled after striking a barricade, a WSP captain said.

Others who work to keep our roads safe haven’t been so fortunate, as vehicle traffic and construction projects have increased in the latter days of the COVID-19 shutdown.

An off-duty Seattle cop was hit and killed while she responded to a multi-vehicle wreck on Interstate 5 in June. A flagger was hit and killed while she guided traffic at a Yakima County road construction project in May. A tow-truck operator and the couple he was assisting were all struck and killed on the side of I-5 near Kelso in April. Another tow truck operator lost a leg in a work zone collision.

WSDOT incident responders must always be looking over their shoulders, especially after one of their colleagues was recently hospitalized. He was seriously hurt when a vehicle smashed into his truck on Interstate 405 in King County — the third time he’d been hit while helping stranded drivers since 2016.

“It’s hard to find a member of our work crews who hasn’t had a close call,” WSDOT spokeswoman Barbara LaBoe told us Tuesday. “We want our crews to get home to their families safely at the end of the night.”

Over the past decade, Washington has averaged 680 roadway work zone crash injuries a year, LaBoe said. The injury total reached 726 in 2019, then dropped to 327 in 2020 as traffic volumes and road projects dwindled during the pandemic. But even then, there were seven fatal crashes in work zones, just three less than in 2019.

With fewer freeway backups to inhibit NASCAR wannabes, “we had road crews report cars flying past them at 100 mph,” LaBoe said.

Some incidents that grabbed headlines this year, like Sherman’s, involved alcohol. But that’s not actually among the top three causes of Washington work zone crashes recorded by WSDOT. Last year, like most years, those causes were: following too closely; excessive speed; and distracted or inattentive driving.

Even the most devout teetotaler can easily fall prey to these bad habits. And during this busy South Sound summer of road projects — with active work sites up and down the I-5 corridor from JBLM to Fife — we all must do our part to drive cautiously.

So when you see those telltale signs, cones and bright lights warning of exposed workers ahead, redouble your commitment to obey the law — or risk paying a fine double the normal traffic infraction.

Slow down. Pay attention. Stay calm. Move over. And remember that for thousands of Washingtonians, highway pavement and road shoulders are the equivalent of your office desk. They deserve a safe place to work, as much as any of us do.

As for Richard Sherman, it’s good that he expressed general remorse on social media, though he owes a direct apology to road workers. We hope he gets the help he needs — and that his reckless actions are a wake-up call for drivers across our state.

News Tribune editorials reflect the views of our Editorial Board and are written by opinion editor Matt Misterek. Other board members are: Stephanie Pedersen, News Tribune president and editor; Matt Driscoll, local columnist; and Jim Walton, community representative. The Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom and does not influence the work of news reporting and editing staffs. For questions about the board or our editorials, email matt.misterek@thenewstribune.com