Woman critically injured after STA van struck by car that ran red light

A woman was critically injured in downtown Spokane Thursday evening after the Spokane Transit Authority van she was in was struck by a car that witnesses said ran multiple red lights leading up to the crash. A Subaru sedan was southbound on Browne Street and struck a Nissan Altima and STA Vanpool van at Third Avenue, said Spokane police Lt. J.D. Anderson. The van was eastbound on Third attempting to turn south on Browne to enter the eastbound Interstate 90 ramp. A woman who was lying down in the van was ejected and critically injured, Anderson said. She was transported to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center. Anderson said that witnesses reported that the Subaru ran red lights at Sprague and Second avenues as well as the light at Third where the crash occurred. The driver of the Subaru was seriously injured, and police had not yet been able to talk to him by 10 p.m. Thursday. A Spokane County Sheriff’s drug recognition expert was headed to the hospital to evaluate him, Anderson said. Other passengers and drivers were not seriously hurt but were transported to a hospital as a precaution. Anderson said there were four or five passengers in the van. STA’s vanpool program allows a group of commuters to pay to use a van for car pooling. The STA provides selected drivers from within the group with defensive driving training.