La Conner resident causes fatal car collision Friday

On the foggy morning of Friday, Sept. 2, Washington State Patrol responded to a fatal car crash at the intersection of State Route 20 and Avon Allen Road.

The Washington State Patrol press release states that at 7:55 a.m. 28-year-old La Conner resident Julie Johnson was driving east on SR-20 and ran the red light, causing a collision with a southbound vehicle. That vehicle's driver, 42-year-old Burlington resident John Burke, was not wearing his seatbelt and ejected from his vehicle upon impact. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

No drugs or alcohol were involved.

Two other fatal collisions occurred on SR-20 within a 24-hour period last weekend.

Under the same foggy weather in Hamilton, around 8:30 a.m., a vehicle crashed into a bridge near Cabin Creek Road, local press reports. A 33-year-old California man was pronounced dead on the scene.

Earlier, about 12:30 a.m. Sept. 2 in Sedro-Woolley, a car rear-ended another car on the highway causing a three-way collision.

According to local press reports, the second car hit a car driving the opposite way head-on.

The third driver, 26-year-old Michael Warnke-Sedano, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Natonal Public Radio reported Monday, Sept. 5 that traffic fatalities in the U.S. are at their highest levels in two decades.