A driver had to escape her sinking car after the vehicle was driven down the boat launch at Scatchet Head Community Club and into Puget Sound Thursday evening.
The female driver, who is estimated to be in her 40s or 50s, is OK. Her white sedan remains in the water. The cause behind the incident was not confirmed, although a witness said it appeared the driver intentionally drove into the sound from Driftwood Drive, the street the community club is on.
“I was walking my dog around 6:30 near the Scatchet Head Community Club when I suddently heard this car speeding down Driftwood Drive,” Clinton resident Christy Broussard said. “It took a hard left to get to the boat launch, and from there the car sped up and drove into the water. It was pretty shocking to see.”
Broussard said in order to take the hard left to reach the boat launch, a driver would have to intentionally turn due to its sharpness.
Luckily for the driver, Broussard and two maintenance workers at the community club saw the events unfold, and sprang into action. Broussard said the others shined flashlights onto the car window to signal for the driver to open the window, before talking her out of the vehicle. The car was slowly sinking, according to Broussard, so the driver was able to escape the car vehicle herself without any help from the bystanders.
“We actually didn’t have to do much of anything, other than make an assessment that nobody else was in the vehicle,” South Whibdey Fire/EMS Chief Rusty Palmer said. “When we arrived, the person was on the shore with individuals. The ambulance grabbed her quickly and took her to the hospital.”
Broussard added this could have been a scary incident had people not been at the community center to talk the driver out of the sinking car. She said nobody else would have seen it since there are no street lights in the area, which she said is a safety hazard in these sort of situations.
“These things rarely happen, but they do happen,” Broussard said. “I think street lights could have helped in this situation.”
