A driver crashed a pickup truck into the drive-through of a Moses Lake, Washington, Starbucks on Saturday, injuring at least one person and causing significant damage to the coffee shop and his own vehicle. The Moses Lake Police Department said the crash happened around 6 a.m., when the man left the roadway on Kittleson Road, struck the Starbucks and then backed away from the building before coming to a stop, according to KIRO 7. The driver admitted he had been “screwing around” before the collision.
Witnesses told police the man was wearing headphones before he hit the building. Witness statements and roadway evidence indicated he over-accelerated as he came off Maiers Road onto Kittleson. Police said he fishtailed several times before losing control.
The truck left the road and drove into the building, then reversed away from it before stopping. Photos from the scene show a pickup near the damaged coffee shop in early morning light. At least one person was hurt, though police have not detailed the injury.
Police have yet to say whether the driver will face a charge or citation for what happened. They have also not released the names of the driver or the injured person. Witness accounts and physical evidence collected from the site are the sources the accident report used to say the truck sped up and fishtailed.
Why Do Vehicles Keep Ending Up Inside Storefronts?
Crashes in which a vehicle drives into a building are more common than they appear, and drive-through businesses like coffee shops and fast-food restaurants are frequent sites because they place parking and moving traffic right against the structure. The Storefront Safety Council, a group that tracks these crashes, has estimated that vehicle-into-building incidents happen dozens of times a day across the United States, driven by a mix of pedal error, impairment, medical events and, as police describe in this case, deliberate misuse of a vehicle.
The damage tends to be severe because storefronts obviously aren’t built to stop a moving vehicle. Many jurisdictions and businesses have responded by installing bollards, the short steel posts set in concrete outside entrances and drive-throughs, which are designed to absorb an impact before a vehicle reaches the wall or the people inside. Moses Lake police have not said whether the Starbucks had any such barriers, or whether the injured person was a customer, an employee, or someone in the drive-through lane.
Our Take
Six in the morning is an odd time to be “screwing around” behind the wheel, but here we are. Headphones on, apparently having a little too much fun coming off Maiers Road, and now there’s a truck-shaped hole in a Starbucks. We’re just glad it sounds like everyone involved will be okay, because these drive-through layouts put parked cars, moving traffic, and a building full of people and equipment all within a few feet of each other. It doesn’t take much for a bad decision to turn into a real mess.
This one also doubles as a decent case for bollards. They’re not the most exciting piece of infrastructure, but a few steel posts in the right spot have saved plenty of storefronts (and plenty of baristas) from becoming the next headline. Here’s hoping Moses Lake, and every drive-through like it, takes the hint.