Across these diverse counties, residents and visitors encounter gorgeous mountain views, extensive waterways, the beautiful Puget Sound, and the vast network of San Juan Islands.
Whatcom County has a population of approximately 200,000. The county seat and largest city is Bellingham. The county name ultimately derives from the Lummi word Xwotʼqom, meaning "noisy water."
The largest industries in Whatcom County include manufacturing, agriculture, and healthcare. Whatcom County is the location of Western Washington University.
As of the 2010 census, its population was 78,506. Its county seat is Coupeville, while its largest city is Oak Harbor. Its name reflects the fact that it is composed entirely of islands. It contains two large islands, Whidbey and Camano, and seven smaller islands - Baby, Ben Ure, Deception, Kalamut, Minor, Smith, and Strawberry.
San Juan County is a county located in the Salish Sea in the far northwestern corner of Washington State. As of the 2010 census, its population was 15,769. Of the hundreds of islands in the county, only 60 islands are inhabited.
Skagit County, with a population of 116,901, is situated in the gorgeous Skagit Valley. The county seat and largest city is Mount Vernon. The majestic Cascade Mountains stand to the east, overlooking a fertile valley boasting a variety of agricultural crops. Running through the valley is the powerful Skagit River flowing westward toward the beautiful San Juan Islands.
Snohomish County, with a population of 772,501, is the third-most populous county in Washington. The county seat and largest city is Everett. The county is located between the sparkling blue waters of Puget Sound and the rugged, snow-capped peaks of the Cascade Mountains. Snohomish County begins 12 miles north of Seattle, a little under 100 miles south of Vancouver, and a short ferry ride away from the San Juan Islands and the Olympic Peninsula. Snohomish County is home to over 20,000 businesses, ranging from small family farms specializing in organic foods, to the world’s largest advanced manufacturing facility producing state-of art aerospace equipment.
The climate is generally mild and typical of the Puget Sound region. The year-long average daily high and low temperatures are 59 and 44.1 °F. The western region of the Northwest Interior has a marine oceanic climate that is strongly influenced by the Cascade Range and Olympic Mountains, and gets an average of 42 inches of rain per year.
Whatcom, Island, San Juan, Skagit, and Snohomish County car accidents;
Whatcom, Island, San Juan, Skagit, and Snohomish County pedestrian accidents;
Whatcom, Island, San Juan, Skagit, and Snohomish County motorcycle accidents;
Whatcom, Island, San Juan, Skagit, and Snohomish County bicycle accidents;
Whatcom, Island, San Juan, Skagit, and Snohomish County train accidents;
Whatcom, Island, San Juan, Skagit, and Snohomish County truck accidents.
Being injured in a serious accident is always a shocking and scary experience, and dealing with the aftermath is exhausting and stressful. Accident victims are forced to deal with hospitalization, medical treatments, missed work, and lost income, often while trying to manage pain and disability from their injuries. And then the insurance adjusters start circling. Find out more about accidents and what issues an injured person needs to be aware of by going to this link.
When someone has been injured or killed in a motor-vehicle collision, the accident victim and their family members are left with medical bills, lost income, and other costs. It is important to get legal assistance to help the accident victim recover, or when the accident is fatal, to help the family members get fully compensated for their losses. Learn more about how a Pacific Northwest personal injury attorney will help injured victims and families.
If someone close to you has died, you may swimming in unpaid bills and wondering about where future money will come after losing an income stream. It's natural to wonder who can be named a beneficiary on a wrongful death claim and receive financial help after such a devastating loss. Click to watch this video that explains who can be named the beneficiary in a wrongful death claim.
If someone close to you has died because of someone else's negligence, you are facing a lot of overwhelming decisions at an emotional, stressful time. There is a lot of information to take in about next steps. Here is a short video explaining who can bring a wrongful death claim.
Accidents can happen so fast. Especially at highway speeds, a vehicle can act like a battering ram. And when that vehicle comes straight at you, it’s one of the scariest experiences in the world. One term for this is “lane departure crashes” which doesn’t quite live up to the intensity of the trauma being run off the road(link is external) brings on. If you or a loved one has been run off the road in Bellingham or Whatcom County, you are likely facing extensive damages and are looking ahead at a lengthy process of recovery. Click to learn more.
The dangers of driving certainly are heightened at intersections. Though we face them everyday, they are one of the most common areas for collisions. The conditions at work at stop signs and lights factor in whether during rush hour or periods of relative quiet. All it takes is a split-second of someone’s inattention or poor decision making, including law-breaking, and lives can suddenly hang in the balance.
If you’ve lost someone you love or were in a wreck yourself at an intersection collision, there is likely an at-fault driver involved. Click to learn more about collisions at intersections in Bellingham and Whatcom County.
The human body bears the brunt of the chain reaction of consequences that a simple mistake puts in motion. Because of their ubiquity, speed, and mass, a very common way people are hurt is in motor vehicles. One of the most common injuries in car crashes is whiplash, from one of the most common types of collisions, being rear-ended. Just about everyone is familiar with the term “whiplash” but what is it exactly, what what’s so dangerous about it? Click to learn more about whiplash and how it can affect your health after a car crash.
It's no surprise that younger drivers are involved with accidents more often than older drivers. Experience and maturity change so many of our decisions; what might have made sense at 16 seems unconscionable at 36 (and, in many ways, vice versa). However, looking at the disparity in motor vehicle accidents is shocking. Research shows that it doesn't take much before alcohol has an effect on someone's ability to drive - even well below the legal limits for a traffic offense. In a study conducted by researchers at Texas A&M University, "Tests showed that at .04, again one-half the level of legal intoxication, drivers had trouble with such skills as skid control, crash simulation and other maneuvering tests through stationary cones," Dr. Maurice Dennis said. Here are some tips on keeping teenage drivers safe and accident free.
One of the worst possible crashes are head-on collisions. The injuries can be catastrophic, even fatal. These crashes can happen on highways, two-lane roads, and intersections. With increasing instances of distracted driving, and the dangers of drunk and drugged driving, we see these types of collisions every day somewhere in the country. It is, obviously, against the law to travel in the same lanes as oncoming traffic, and the laws that govern Bellingham and Whatcom County are no different. Before financial compensation can be given, victims injured in a head-on collision have to prove liability. If police cite the other driver for the crash due to the statute that makes head-on collisions a crime, this process can be easier. Learn more about your options if you have been the victim of a head on collision in Bellingham or Whatcom County.
E.L. Doctorow said, “You never see further than your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” Most people can, but night time driving is more dangerous than during daylight hours, simply because of reduced visibility. Add to it drivers who are drunk or drugged, or distracted, and things become very dangerous. Nightime driving increases the chance of an accident. You might have seen cars that are missing a working head or tail light, or no lights at all, their drivers seemingly oblivious. It is against the rules of the road to drive without adequate lighting at night because this kind of negligence can bring on accidents with catastrophic results. If you have been hit by a driver who was not operating a safe vehicle, or hit you because of negligence, your life has been impacted far beyond the initial hit.
Driving and talking on the phone simultaneously is not like walking and chewing gum. Walking and chewing gum don't involve much concentration. Driving and holding a conversation, however, do involve those areas of the brain that require a lot of thought. Research shows that the mind can't do two distinct thinking tasks at the same time; instead, it switches back and forth very quickly between the two activities. It may look like someone is doing both at the same time, but the brain doesn't work that way. Those brief interruptions in focus can mean that the driver is on autopilot. And autopilot can't react when something unexpected occurs. Click to learn more about how multi-tasking is a myth, and why driving while distracted is so dangerous.
From a study of 1,600 managers and professionals, Leslie Perlow, PhD, the Konosuke Matsushita professor of leadership at the Harvard Business School, found that:
70% said they check their smartphone within an hour of getting up. 56% check their phone within an hour of going to sleep. 48% check over the weekend, including on Friday and Saturday nights. 51% check continuously during vacation. 44% said they would experience "a great deal of anxiety" if they lost their phone and couldn't replace it for a week.
Now, click to follow a link to watch the video and read more statistics and studies about distracted driving and how far-ranging a problem it has become.
The Oct. 31 crash on Highway 20 that killed one Oak Harbor teenager near Anacortes has now claimed the life of her twin sister.
The driver of a pickup truck was attempting to pass a tractor-trailer in heavy fog on State Route 548 early Tuesday when he plowed head-on into an oncoming car, killing himself and the 18-year-old woman driving the car, the Washington State Patrol
A Whatcom County man has been sentenced to almost two years in prison for causing a crash that killed a teenage girl in October on West Badger Road.
A Bellingham woman was killed and her passenger was injured in a two-car crash this morning north of Bellingham.
Bellingham and Whatcom County are growing in population, and with this growth comes increases in traffic, congestion, and accidents.
A Whatcom County toddler was killed this weekend when his grandfather accidentally backed over him with a riding lawn mower.
An 18-year-old motorcyclist was killed late Monday when he slammed into a cable barrier along Interstate 5 at high speed. Troopers responded to the scene, in the northbound lanes of I-5 in Whatcom County, at about 10:45 p.m.
What personal injury victims need to know:
A Deming man was killed in an ATV crash on a gravel road in woods north of the Mount Baker Highway. The Bellingham Herald reports it's not clear when the crash occurred but the body of 45-year-old Scott Allen Monaghan was found Monday morning.
Ramon Garcia died after striking a utility pole on Lakeway Drive. Troopers believe that speed was the primary factor, and that drugs and alcohol were not involved. Garcia was studying visual journalism at Western Washington University.
The things that you need to know about an accident with a drunk driver
The driver of a southbound Chevrolet Blazer — Norberto Bravo-Vasquez, 56 — didn’t stop at the intersection with a two-way stop at Van Buren Road and slammed into an Acura headed west at 11:24 a.m., said Washington State Patrol Trooper Keith Leary.
A driver suspected of being under the influence of prescription drugs hit two bicyclists, killing one of them, then drove off after initially stopping at the crash scene.
A seven-year-old boy has been airlifted to Harborview Medical Center after being struck by a bus Thursday. The boy was a passenger on the bus and got off at Lummi Shore Drive near Ferndale.
