Display reminder

For firefighters and paramedics of Orcas Island the mangled van outside fire department headquarters on Mount Baker Road is a reminder of grisly scenes that are all too familiar.

But with the holiday season in full swing, Fire Commissioner Bob Phalan hopes that putting the wreckage on display will also serve as a precautionary tale for the public: Drinking and driving is a bad recipe, and buckling-up should be a no-brainer.

With damage to the van in mind, Phalan said the driver of the van fared better than one would expect. He walked away from the crash. But far more severe injuries are often the consequence even when damage caused in a collision is far less visible or dramatic, he explained. "You can never tell, there's really no rhyme or reason to it," Phalan said.

"We've had collisions where the amount of damage hasn't been close to this one, but the injuries to the people involved were severe."

A Seattle man was east of Moran State Park and southbound on Olga Road when he lost control of the van as it drifted off the pavement along a curve. He wasn't wearing a seat belt, and reportedly was intoxicated at the time of the crash, which occurred Nov. 24 about 2 a.m. He faces charges of speeding and DUI, according to the Sheriff's office.

Despite suffering serious injuries - a broken collarbone and bruised ribs - the 24-year-old somehow managed to walk away from one of the most devastating crashes in recent memory, according to Phalan. Authorities found him at a nearby home, about a mile from the site of the crash. He had walked there in search of help, and was flown off-island for medical treatment.

The passenger side of the van was ripped apart like the top of a can of sardines being peeled back after it toppled over, slid about 160 feet along an embankment, and slammed into a series of stumps and trees. Sheriff's deputies discovered scattered pieces of the wreckage 30 feet from where the demolished van finally came to a stop. The van belonged to the mother of his girlfriend.

"It's amazing he was able to walk away," said Phalan, who noted that the owner of the van and her insurance company both were happy to have the wreckage on display. "This is the second collision we've had like this within the last month-and-a-half."

The combination of alcohol and disregard for seat belts is the primary reason San Juan leads the state's 39 counties - statistically -- in the number of fatalities per miles driven between 1993 and 2000. Though the overall number of deaths due to traffic collisions in the San Juans is far fewer than in King, Pierce or Snohomish counties, so is the number of miles driven and the number of drivers. The 3.23 fatal crashes per million miles driven in San Juan exceeds the rate in the rest of the state, according to a study released this spring by the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.

Still, a closer look at the collisions tallied during the study period

reveals alcohol was involved in eight of the nine fatal crashes. In addition, eight of the people who died were not wearing seat belts, according to the report.

With the mutilated van and an in-your-face reminder, Phalan and his colleagues hope the grim holiday display prompts residents to think twice and avoid the risk of driving when they've had too much to drink.

"Not everyone is as lucky as that guy was," he said.

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