Douglas Buell/Staff Photo

Trucker avoids chain-reaction crash

A semi-truck driver avoided causing a potential chain-reaction collision Thursday morning when traffic on Interstate 5 near Tulalip came to an abrupt stop. He maneuvered his rig off the freeway, stopping in a grassy center median. Trooper Heather Axtman said “The driver said he swerved from the center lane left to avoid a collision. Fortunately no one was in the inside lane,” and he was able to slip past a cable barrier. Crews closed the inside lane, with traffic backed up at least a mile, while tow vehicles and the state patrol backed the semi-truck out the way it came.