WA SR-18 Crash: Lucky Roll Over Stops Before Bridge Drop-off

A medical emergency violent crash on SR-18 could have been much worse yesterday, leaving a vehicle and highway infrastructure destroyed.

Driver Suffers Medical Episode and Multi-Roll Collision on WA SR-18

A scary crash happened on SR-18 just east of Covington, Washington, yesterday afternoon (February 16, 2025). A driver reportedly suffered a medical episode behind the wheel and their dark-colored four-door sedan, rolled multiple times before coming to rest upside down. The crash caused severe damage to both the car and surrounding infrastructure but luckily everyone involved survived.

Trooper Rick Johnson of the Washington State Patrol provided an update on the situation on X, stating that Lane 2 of eastbound SR-18 was temporarily closed due to a collision. Emergency responders arrived on the scene and transported the driver to a nearby hospital. The cause of the crash was confirmed by the Washington State Patrol to be related to a medical emergency, but further details on the driver’s condition have not been released.

Photos from the incident show the devastating impact of the crash. The vehicle can be seen on its roof, its airbags deployed, and the exhaust system bent over the top of the wreckage and lying next to one of the car's front wheels. The force of the rollover had disconnected the car’s rear exhaust system and left it sitting in a strange position.

The photo also highlights how fortunate it was that the vehicle came to rest just feet from a steep drop-off into a creek or river, a collision that could have made the situation much more serious.

The other image released from the scene shows the toll the crash took on the highway's infrastructure. The vehicle's path from the highway led it to tear through at least eight wooden poles that supported a metal guardrail bordering the highway. Those will now need to be replaced.