Cameron Road accident caps 30 hour traffic mess

"Between the evening of Feb. 12 and mid-morning Feb. 14, rescuers from Fire District 3 and paramedics from Whidbey General Hospital responded to a spate of six auto accidents on South Whidbey. The last crash in the series occurred at the intersection of Cameron Road and Highway 525, when a northbound driven vehicle hit another as the second car entered the roadway. Neither driver was seriously injured, and the only passenger, a yellow Lab puppy, was safe. "

“Don’t look at me, I wasn’t drivingFreeland resident Steven Jackson (left) has a moment with his golden lab puppy and father Mark Jackson after narrowly escaping injury in a two car accident at Cameron Road last Wednesday.Matt Johnson / staff photoThirty hours, eight cars, six accidents. It was not a good way to start the week for South Whidbey firefighters and rescue personnel.Between the evening of Feb. 12 and mid-morning Feb. 14, rescuers from Fire District 3 and paramedics from Whidbey General Hospital responded to a spate of six auto accidents on South Whidbey. The most serious of the accidents, a car-tree collision on East Harbor Road Tuesday, sent one woman to Whidbey General Hospital, said Assistant Fire Chief Paul Busch.No common factor, such as weather, tied the accidents together. Bush said icy roads could be blamed for only one of the accidents. The last crash in the series occurred at about 10:45 a.m. Wednesday at the intersection of Cameron Road and Highway 525. Loretta Martin, 46, of Freeland was driving her Jeep Grand Cherokee northbound on Highway 525 when a 1986 Ford Thunderbird driven by Freeland resident Steven Jackson, 18, pulled onto the highway from westbound Cameron Road. According to State Patrol Trooper Julie Swanson, Jackson failed to look for oncoming traffic before pulling out. Martin’s Jeep hit Jackon’s car just in front of his driver’s side door at a speed that Swanson said was well below the speed limit. She said if Martin had not swerved away from Jackson’s car, he might have been seriously injured.Both drivers, who were wearing seatbelts, were shaken in the accident, but neither was seriously hurt. Both vehicles suffered extensive damage. The only passenger in either car was a yellow lab puppy in Jackson’s car. The puppy was not hurt in the accident.Trooper Swanson cited Jackson for failing to yield. “