Return of Tri-City Water Follies meant drunk drivers, crashes and busy roads
Tri-City Water Follies events brought thousands to town, clogging roadways and causing more crashes.
The Washington State Patrol responded to 32 wrecks on state highways and interstates in the Tri-Cities region over four days, Washington State Patrol Trooper Chris Thorson said on Twitter.
That’s up 60% from the 20 crashes state troopers responded to during the last Water Follies weekend in 2019, Thorson told the Herald.
But while there was more traffic congestion, the number of drunk driving arrests dropped a bit.
The state patrol arrested eight drivers for DUI — about half as many during the same time in 2019.
With the thousands of people expected to attend the airshow and hydroplane races and the Art in the Park event in Richland, WSP planned to bring in troopers from other districts to help patrol the highways.
About five more officers were on the roads looking for speeders, drunk drivers and aggressive and distracted drivers, said the state patrol.
The goal was to reduce the number of fatal crashes and wrecks with serious injuries.
While there were more collisions this year, just one sent someone to a hospital. A Yakima motorcyclist on Highway 395 was speeding south when he couldn’t stop in time for slowing traffic and had to lay down his bike about noon Saturday.
Nicky J. McWain, 52, was taken to Trios Southridge Hospital in Kennewick. His condition was not immediately available Monday.
Other collisions
The state patrol also responded to two, four-vehicle crashes in Kennewick.
The first was just before 11 a.m. Friday when three cars and a semi collided at the intersection of Highway 395 and 10th Avenue.
The other, a four-car crash on the blue bridge was Saturday when drivers were distracted by the events on the Columbia River.
In Columbia Park, Kennewick Police Lt. Jason Kiel reported few problems with the crowd.
“Everybody really just had a great time down here,” he said in a video from the event. “It’s been a great weekend. It’s been a safe weekend.”
This story was originally published July 26, 2021 at 1:03 PM.