Five people are dead after a Nissan Maxima carrying four men crossed into oncoming lanes and slammed head-on into a Chevrolet Sonic on a rural stretch of highway north of East Wenatchee, Washington, killing everyone in both vehicles. The crash happened around 9:40 p.m. Sunday on the concurrent stretch of U.S. Highways 2 and 97, roughly 11 miles north of East Wenatchee in Douglas County.
According to FOX 13 Seattle, which cited a Washington State Patrol crash report, the Nissan Maxima was heading west near milepost 137 when it crossed into the eastbound lanes and struck a 2015 Chevrolet Sonic driven by a 77-year-old woman from Omak. The Sonic was traveling east at the time. Local reporting from NewsRadio 560 KPQ places the crash site about 3 miles south of Orondo, along the same corridor where U.S. 2 and U.S. 97 run together beside the Columbia River in rural Douglas County.
All five people involved were killed — the Omak woman driving the Sonic and four men in the Maxima, one of whom was identified only as 35 years old. Troopers did not release additional details about the identities of the other victims, and the crash report did not specify what led the Maxima to leave its lane.
Seatbelts and a Cause Still Under Review
WSP listed improper lane usage as the cause of the crash, per the report cited by FOX 13 Seattle. Both drivers were wearing seatbelts, but of the five people involved, only three total were properly restrained — meaning two of the four passengers in the Maxima were not wearing seatbelts at the time of impact. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission classifies seatbelt non-compliance as one of the state’s “fatal four” high-risk driving behaviors, alongside impairment, speeding, and distraction, underscoring why investigators track restraint use so closely in fatal wrecks…