Chain-reaction pileups on I-90 involve nine vehicles

Two chain-reaction pileups damaged nine vehicles Wednesday morning on Interstate 90 near Liberty Lake, though no one appeared to be seriously injured, the Washington State Patrol said.

The debris from a two-vehicle collision in the eastbound lanes caused four cars on the opposite side of the freeway to crash into each other, Trooper Jeff Sevigney said. Three more cars collided during the traffic slowdown caused by the initial crash.

Sevigney said a vehicle traveling eastbound sideswiped another car while making a lane change shortly after 9 a.m. east of the Liberty Lake exit. One vehicle rolled as a result, and both hit the median, sending debris into the westbound lanes.

A westbound driver who hit the debris stopped in the median to check for damage, Sevigney said. That car was hit when another vehicle rear-ended a car that was slowing down because of the debris, pushing the second car into the stopped vehicle.

The driver who rear-ended that car also sideswiped another vehicle in the process, Sevigney said.

The collision caused delays as troopers worked to clear the scene.

During the slowdown, Sevigney said there was another three-vehicle collision in the eastbound lanes around 10:30 a.m., caused by a driver rear-ending other vehicles.

There were no serious injuries in any of the nine vehicles involved. Sevigney said better attention from drivers would have helped avoid the pileups.

“You’ve got to look up the road and make sure you’re controlling your speed for changing conditions,” he said.