Driver Breaks Neck In Icy Crash

Thu., Nov. 2, 2000

From Staff Reports

A semi-truck crashed after hitting a patch of ice on Interstate 90 near Sprague Lake on Wednesday morning, sending the driver to the hospital with a broken neck.

Four smaller accidents near Sprague Lake - involving four semitrucks, two pickup trucks and four cars - occurred within an hour after the initial truck wreck, Lt. Bruce Clark of the Washington State Patrol said. Those collisions were not caused by the first crash, but were related to the slick roads.

The westbound lanes were closed but reopened before 8 a.m.

The first wreck occurred at about 7:15 a.m. when the driver, Lyle K. Morehouse, 58, lost control of his truck on ice on a railroad overpass.

The truck rolled on its side and went through a guardrail, ejecting Morehouse.

Morehouse, who was not wearing a seat belt, was taken to Deaconess Medical Center, where he was listed in serious condition Wednesday night.

Two drivers injured in the other wrecks were treated in Ritzville and released.

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