Injury Crash With Semi-truck Hauling a Flat-bed Trailer Closes Highway 219 for Hours

Officials say the Saturn was traveling faster than was safe for the road.

(HILLSBORO, Ore.) - Washington County Deputies closed Highway 219 south of Hillsboro today after a car crashed into a semi-truck hauling a flat-bed trailer.

Firefighters had to extricate the occupants of the car, who were then transported to an area trauma center.

At 10:35 a.m., Washington County Sheriff's Deputies responded to SW Highway 219 (Hillsboro Highway) just south of SW Midway Road for a crash involving a 1993 green Saturn Coupe and a 2003 Volvo semi-truck.

When they arrived, deputies closed Highway 219 while firefighters extricated two adult women and a female child from the Saturn. All three were transported to Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) hospital.

The 20-year-old driver and the 21-year-old passenger had serious injuries, but they were expected to survive. The female child was not injured.

The Washington County Crash Analysis Reconstruction Team (CART) was called to the scene to investigate the crash. The preliminary investigation indicated that the driver of the Saturn was traveling faster than was safe for the road conditions as it was raining heavily at the time of the crash.

As she rounded the corner she drifted into the oncoming lane of traffic.

The truck driver saw the car in his lane and braked hard. As he did, the flatbed trailer he was towing slid sideways into the oncoming lane of traffic.

The Saturn went under the trailer and knocked its rear axel loose. At this time, there are no criminal charges expected in the case. The driver of the truck was not hurt and was not at fault for the crash.

Highway 219 was closed for several hours to clear the truck off the road and investigate the crash.