Vehicle overturns at top of Gallagher Hill ravine

A Subaru Outback went off the road near the top of Gallagher Hill after 4:10 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5, 2012. - Rebecca Mar/Staff Photo
Rebecca Mar/Staff Photo
A Subaru Outback went off the road near the top of Gallagher Hill after 4:10 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5, 2012.

By REPORTER STAFF
Mercer Island Reporter Staff
October 8, 2012 · Updated 4:52 PM 

A vehicle rolled over at the top of the Gallagher Hill ravine and became wedged against a tree at approximately 4:10 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5. A passerby driving down Gallagher Hill Road reported the overturned vehicle, a Subaru Outback, to 911.

Mercer Island police and fire responded to the accident, along with other aid units, including the Bellevue Fire Department. The driver and passenger, the only two occupants of the vehicle, were transported to Overlake Hospital after being removed from the vehicle. The passenger, 65, sustained head lacerations, but there were no life-threatening injuries, according to the Mercer Island Police Department.

The driver, a 45-year-old Renton resident, had been drinking and was arrested for DUI.

The driver told police that he was traveling southbound up the hill and swerved to avoid an oncoming vehicle when it crossed into his lane. His vehicle went off the road, rolled eight feet down the embankment and landed between a tree and a retaining wall.

Traffic was blocked on Gallagher Hill for an estimated 40 minutes.

Contact Mercer Island Reporter Staff Reporter Staff at editor@mi-reporter.com.

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