Truck crashes at bottom of Almota

A Lewiston man was seriously injured Sept. 21 when the landscaping truck he was driving went out of control and crashed through the guardrail of Highway 194 at the bottom of the Almota grade. A Colfax ambulance responded to the scene to get the driver out of the wrecked truck. He was taken by ambulance to Boyer Marina where he was loaded onto a Life Flight helicopter and flown to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston.

The driver was identified as Thomas L. Reed, 53, Lewiston.

According to the Washington State Patrol report, Reed was driving down the grade and the brakes failed on the 1989 Kenworth dump truck. The truck crashed through the guardrail along the 180-degree curve at the bottom of the grade and went down the embankment. The highway crosses Little Almota Creek at the curve before going on down the grade to the Almota Creek crossing and Almota.

The truck hit the guard rail at close to a head-on angle and that pulled the guardrail off its supports for most of its length along the curve on the uphill side of the highway. Part of the guardrail went down the embankment in front of the truck.

State maintenance crews were at the scene to assist with traffic control and awaiting removal of the truck before starting work on the guardrail.