Dump truck crash snarled traffic at Deception Pass

A dump truck accident at Deception Pass Bridge caused traffic to back up for miles Thursday. Trooper Mark Francis with the Washington State Patrol said a 58-year-old Everson man was driving a dump truck north on Highway 20 and had just crossed over the bridge when he lost control of the truck.

A dump truck accident at Deception Pass Bridge caused traffic to back up for miles Thursday.

Trooper Mark Francis with the Washington State Patrol said a 58-year-old Everson man was driving a dump truck north on Highway 20 and had just crossed over the bridge when he lost control of the truck.

According to Francis, the man said he reached out for his coffee and the truck swerved to the right. The man overcorrected, driving the truck across the oncoming land and into the log rails that keep cars from plunging down the cliffs at Deception Pass.

The driver wasn’t injured, but the dump truck and the rail were damaged, according to the trooper. The accident occurred at about 2:50 p.m.

Francis said the truck crashed at a pull-off on the side of the road, so it didn’t block traffic until the tow truck arrived. By the time the scene was cleared at 5:15 p.m., traffic was backed up to Jones Road on Whidbey Island.

Francis said the driver was cited for negligent driving in the second degree.