A Ride the Ducks boat and a sedan collided this afternoon at 5th Ave. & Mercer St. The company, which drives people around Seattle in an amphibious vehicle, was just recently let back onto the streets after the devastating crash that killed four people and injured another 12 in September 2015.
Here's what we know, in tweets:
This just happened right outside our office.@SeattlePD @SeattleFire @Crosscut pic.twitter.com/J9Gfp4VAZ7
— David Kroman (@KromanDavid) March 31, 2016
Police say Duck driver was making left onto 5th from turn lane when driver of red Camry also turned left (from reg lane) & they collided.
— Christine Clarridge (@seaclarridge) March 31, 2016
@KromanDavid @Crosscut @SeattlePD @SeattleFire Pretty significant hit. pic.twitter.com/szRomRHAXr
— Drew Atkins (@DrawAtkins) March 31, 2016
Witness says Duck driver could not see what other car & got off bus saying, "What happened!? What happened!?"
— Christine Clarridge (@seaclarridge) March 31, 2016
BREAKING News! Police say it was not the Duck driver's fault!
— Christine Clarridge (@seaclarridge) March 31, 2016
Here's the car involved in #Seattle #DucksCrash - luckily, no injuries. Except the car and its tires. pic.twitter.com/Q970b7jDz1
— Jillian Raftery (@JillianRaftery) March 31, 2016
Crosscut, whose offices are near the site of the crash, reported that the driver was "dazed," but otherwise okay.
The Toyota was driven by an elderly man from Sequim, on his way to visit his wife in the hospital. He was alone in the vehicle. Immediately after the collision, he was able to exit the car from the passenger side door on his own – the Duck had impacted the driver side, and was square against its door when it started. Although dazed, he eventually left the scene under his own power. No one aboard the duck was injured. A Ride the Ducks spokesperson has claimed the elderly driver was at fault.
The news site also talked to the Fullarton/Goodfriend family, who were visiting the city and saw the crash. Here's what they said about the Ride the Ducks driver:
“He really couldn’t see the car,” said [Lisa] Goodfriend’s husband David Fullarton.
“We’re bike commuters and that scares me, that you can’t see that there was a car coming on the outside of you,” said Goodfriend. “That seems like a bad situation. So whether the older man crossed out of his lane or whatever, the fact that [the duck driver] couldn’t see anything seems bad."
Regardless of who was at fault, something needs to be changed to improve the Ride the Ducks' safety measures. As Ansel mentioned last week, City officials recently announced that they want to require two-person narrating teams for the Ducks tours. That would be a good start.
This story has been updated.