Car and farm harvester collide, closing part of Highway 12 between Tri-Cities and Walla Walla

A section of Highway 12 between the Tri-Cities and Walla Walla was closed in both directions Sunday morning after a car crashed into farm machinery.

Mycheal Summers, 31, of Walla Walla, was driving a 1998 Oldsmobile Intrigue about 6:30 a.m. east on Highway 12 and about three miles east of Touchet.

The car left the highway and Summers overcorrected, according to the Washington State Patrol.

He drove into the westbound lanes, hitting a combine harvester, which was being driven west on the highway, according to the WSP.

Daren Goble, 55, of Touchet, who was driving the combine, was not injured.

Summers was taken to Providence St. Mary’s Medical Center in Walla Walla. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, according to the WSP.

The Washington state Department of Transportation had responded by 8 a.m. for traffic control and said the highway reopened by 10 a.m. Detours on local roads were made available.

This story was originally published July 18, 2021 at 1:44 PM.