Are Seattle's crash response times too slow?

Alex Cnossen

Alex Cnossen Jun 29, 2025

Jan 12, 2018

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          <article>
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                <h1>Are Seattle's crash response times too slow?</h1>
                <h2><p>A study conducted in response to an accident on State Route 99 earlier this year says yes. The study holds that Seattle lags behind other major cities, calling for the city to dispatch tow trucks faster.

The accident happened in March and involved a flipped-over fish truck. It took the</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/alex-cnossen-crosscut-com/">Alex Cnossen</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Jan 12, 2018</time></p>
            </header>
            <p>A study conducted in response to an accident on State Route 99 earlier this year says yes. The study holds that Seattle lags behind other major cities, calling for the city to dispatch tow trucks faster.</p><p>The accident happened in March and involved a flipped-over fish truck. It took the Seattle Department of Transportation and Seattle police nine hours to clear the scene, King 5 <a href="http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/seattle/2015/07/20/seattle-quicker-crash-response-sdot-whittenberg-king-5/30408489/?csp=nbcnews&ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">notes</a>.</p><p>Mayor Ed Murray commissioned the study. TransSafe Consulting and Sam Schwartz Engineering conducted it.</p>
          </article>

A study conducted in response to an accident on State Route 99 earlier this year says yes. The study holds that Seattle lags behind other major cities, calling for the city to dispatch tow trucks faster.

The accident happened in March and involved a flipped-over fish truck. It took the Seattle Department of Transportation and Seattle police nine hours to clear the scene, King 5 notes.

Mayor Ed Murray commissioned the study. TransSafe Consulting and Sam Schwartz Engineering conducted it.

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By Alex Cnossen

Alex Cnossen is a Northwest native and has worked for several local publications, including KOMO, KIRO and KING-TV. He grew up in Portland and loves to run and write. Follow him on Twitter @CnossenAle