Longview sits at the point where Interstate 5, State Route 4, and the industrial waterfront along the Columbia River all come together, and that mix of interstate through-traffic, state highway commuters, and freight moving in and out of the Port of Longview makes for a different kind of car accident case than you would find in a typical residential neighborhood. If you were hurt in a crash on I-5 near Kelso, on the Lewis and Clark Bridge, or anywhere around Longview, a Longview car accident attorney at NW Injury Law Center can help you understand what your case is worth and what it will take to get there.
Our Longview personal injury lawyers have represented injured people across Southwest Washington for more than 45 years, and the same trial team handles car accident claims for people hurt around Longview and Kelso. You do not pay us anything unless we recover money for you.
An Industrial Corridor: I-5, SR-4, and the Lewis and Clark Bridge
Longview and its neighbor Kelso sit where I-5 crosses the Cowlitz and Columbia rivers, and the state highways serving the two cities were built to move industrial traffic, not just commuters. State Route 4, known locally as Ocean Beach Highway, runs through the northern part of Longview past Lower Columbia College before reaching its interchange with I-5 in Kelso. State Route 432 picks up where SR-4 ends in West Longview and becomes Industrial Way as it runs along the Columbia River through the Port of Longview's marine terminals and past the area's mills, before reaching its own interchange with I-5, an exit WSDOT refers to as the Longview Wye. State Route 433 branches off SR-432 and crosses the Columbia on the Lewis and Clark Bridge, the only bridge over the river between Astoria and Portland, connecting Longview to Rainier, Oregon.
That layout means a meaningful share of the traffic on these roads is commercial: trucks moving freight and wood products in and out of the Port's terminals, delivery trucks serving the mills along Industrial Way, and drivers using the Lewis and Clark Bridge as their only nearby route across the river. A crash on SR-432, on the bridge approach, or at the I-5 and SR-4 interchange in Kelso often involves a passenger vehicle and a much larger commercial vehicle, and that changes both the physics of the crash and the legal work that follows it.
Weather adds another layer. The Lewis and Clark Bridge sits high above the Columbia River, and fog and river weather can cut visibility quickly, especially in the early morning when freight traffic is heaviest. Add in commuters merging onto I-5 at the Longview Wye interchange, where two ramps split off from northbound I-5 nearly at once, and you have a stretch of road where a moment's inattention can turn into a serious crash.
When the Other Driver Is on the Clock
If the vehicle that hit you was making a delivery, hauling freight to or from the Port, or driving for a business based in the industrial area, your claim may not be limited to that driver's personal auto insurance. Depending on who owned the vehicle and who employed the driver, you may also have a claim against the driver's employer or the company that owns the truck. Sorting out that chain of responsibility takes investigation early, before evidence like dispatch records, delivery logs, and a truck's onboard data gets lost or written over in the normal course of business. A Longview car accident attorney can send preservation letters and start gathering that evidence right away, rather than waiting to see what a company chooses to hand over later.
Commercial vehicles typically carry higher insurance limits than personal auto policies, which is good news for an injured claimant, but it also means the company and its insurer are more likely to send their own investigator or attorney to the scene quickly to start building a defense. Having your own advocate working just as fast, gathering photos, witness statements, and the vehicle's own data, levels that playing field.
What to Do After a Crash on I-5, SR-4, or SR-432
- Get out of the traffic lane if your car is drivable. Shoulders along SR-432 and the SR-433 bridge approach are narrow, and staying in a live lane after a crash is dangerous.
- Call 911 and ask for police to respond, especially if a commercial truck is involved. A police report will identify the truck's company and DOT number.
- Photograph both vehicles, including any company name or number on a truck's door or trailer, before it leaves the scene.
- Get the names and phone numbers of anyone who saw the crash. Witnesses to a highway collision often keep driving and are hard to track down later.
- See a doctor even if you feel fine at the scene. Some injuries, including concussions and soft tissue damage, do not show symptoms for hours or days.
- Report the crash to your own insurer, but hold off on giving a recorded statement to the other driver's insurance company until you have talked to an attorney.
Washington is a fault-based state, so what you say at the scene can affect how responsibility gets assigned later. Stick to the facts with police and avoid guessing out loud about who caused the crash.
Getting Treated at PeaceHealth St. John
PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center, on Delaware Street in Longview, is a Level III trauma center and the hospital most crash victims in Cowlitz County are taken to. Getting evaluated there, or at the nearest emergency department if you were hurt on the Oregon side of the bridge, does two things at once: it catches injuries that are not obvious right after a crash, and it creates the medical record your claim will eventually depend on. Insurance adjusters look for gaps between the date of the crash and the date you first sought treatment, and use those gaps to argue that your injuries were not serious or were not caused by the collision. Getting seen promptly, and following through on the treatment your doctor recommends, protects both your health and your claim.
Washington's Rules for Car Accident Claims
RCW 4.16.080(2) puts a three-year clock on a Washington car accident lawsuit, counted from the date of the crash. That deadline can arrive faster than it seems, especially if you are waiting to see how your injuries resolve or negotiating with an insurance company that has no incentive to reach a fair settlement before time runs short. If your case goes to trial, it is typically filed in Cowlitz County Superior Court, which sits in the Hall of Justice in Kelso, the county seat.
Washington also follows a pure comparative fault rule under RCW 4.22.005. If you were partly at fault for a crash, you can still recover damages. Your fault percentage comes off your award dollar for dollar, but the award itself survives, even if you were found more at fault than the other driver. That is different from Oregon's rule on the other side of the Lewis and Clark Bridge, where a driver who is more than half at fault recovers nothing at all. Where you can bring a claim, and which state's rules apply, depends on where the crash happened and who was involved, so it is worth talking to an attorney familiar with both sides of the Columbia River. Our car accident attorneys represent injured drivers and passengers throughout Southwest Washington and the Portland metro, not just around Longview.
What Does a Longview Car Accident Attorney Cost?
NW Injury Law Center represents car accident clients on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay nothing upfront and nothing at all unless we recover compensation for you. We advance the costs of investigating your case, from obtaining police and medical records to consulting with accident reconstruction or trucking experts when a case calls for it. Our fee comes out of the settlement or verdict we secure, so calling for a free consultation costs you nothing and carries no obligation to hire us.