Bellingham man walking in northbound I-5 roadway dies after being hit by 2 vehicles
A 54-year-old Bellingham man who was walking in the lanes of traffic on Interstate 5 near the Iowa Street exit died after being struck by two cars late Tuesday.
The pedestrian, who has not yet been identified while law enforcement notifies his family, was walking in the roadway northbound on I-5 near milepost 254 at approximately 11:46 p.m. Dec. 10, according to the Washington State Patrol release on the incident.
A white 2012 Ford Fusion driving by 31-year-old Marc L. Brendlinger of Lakewood was traveling northbound in the right lane at the time and struck the man, according to the report. A red 2004 Honda Accord driven by 24-year-old Katie E. Hinkley of Bellingham following the Fusion then reportedly hit the man, who was lying in the right lane.
Trooper Heather Axtman told The Bellingham Herald that it was unknown why the man was walking on I5 at the time of the incident.
Neither Brendlinger nor Hinkley were injured in the incident, the State Patrol said, though the Fusion did have to be towed from the scene.
Northbound lanes were closed until 1:26 a.m., Axtman said, with Bellingham police closing the Iowa Street on-ramp.
This is the 16th fatality on Whatcom County roads in 2019, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation Crash Portal, and the fifth involving a pedestrian. WSDOT recorded three fatal crashes involving pedestrians in 2018 and 13 total fatalities in Whatcom County.
The fatality is the third this year involving a pedestrian along I-5 in Whatcom County, according to WSDOT. There have been an additional three along I-5 in Skagit County north of Highway 20 in Burlington.
Tuesday’s incident also comes less than a week after a Blaine man was critically injured when he was hit Saturday while in the lanes of traffic of southbound I-5 near the Alger exit. Peter Kovtun is recovering from his injuries at Harborview Medical Center after he was struck by an SUV after he exited his car following a single-vehicle crash.
“I simply don’t know if there has been an increase in those types of incidents (pedestrian-involved) along I-5 this year,” Axtman told The Herald. “I don’t have that data in front of me. It probably is district-wide (Whatcom, Skagit and Snohomish counties), but I’m interested state-wide, too.
“I feel like, oh my gosh, there have been a lot. But I don’t know if there has been an up-rise compared to previous years.”
This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 6:30 AM with the headline "Bellingham man walking in northbound I-5 roadway dies after being hit by 2 vehicles."
