Pasco Fatality Reported After Car Collides With Classic Car

Pasco Police responded to a fatality collision that sadly ended with one death. 

According to reports from the Pasco Police, Officers responded Saturday evening at about 7:13 PM, medics and officers responded to a 2-car collision at Court/ Road 88.

A bright yellow 1933 Willys hot rod with a fiberglass body had been westbound on Court Street occupied by two people. It was struck by a green Toyota Camry that was traveling southbound on Road 88 with a stop sign at Court Street.

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Sadly, it was a serious collision that resulted in the death of the Willys driver, Shirley L. Nelson, a 63-year-old Kennewick resident. The Willys passenger, a 63-year-old Pasco resident, received life-threatening injuries and was ultimately transported by helicopter to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The two occupants of the Camry received non-life-threatening injuries, but the driver, a 23-year-old Pasco resident, had to be cut out of the car.

Washington State Patrol assisted Pasco officers with marking and documenting the scene. Preliminary investigation indicates that drugs and/or alcohol were not a factor. Both occupants of the Willys hot rod were fully ejected from their car during the collision; a 1933 vehicle is not required to have seat belts or other safety features that were not mandatory when it was originally built.

Officers will be investigating for a while. The Willys was equipped with a loud exhaust system, making it harder to judge its speed based on sound alone, although witnesses heard it coming. The Camry had a duty to fully stop at the stop sign and only pull out when it was safe to enter Court Street.

If negligence or recklessness was involved, the at-fault driver could face criminal traffic charges. If not, the at-fault driver could face a traffic infraction for failure to yield the right-of-way. At this point, no one is charged with anything.

The accident is still an ongoing investigation and as soon as we get more details, we'll update this article.