A 71-year-old motorcyclist was killed by a wrong-way driver on Highway 52o on Friday morning.
All the highway’s eastbound lanes in Bellevue were closed for about three hours after the crash.
Washington State Patrol was notified around 11:15 a.m. of a blue pickup truck traveling the wrong way on the road, said Trooper Rick Johnson, a Patrol spokesman. One minute later, the motorcyclist was fatally struck just west of Bellevue Way Northeast, Johnson said.
The truck lost a front tire, but its 79-year-old driver continued on for another half mile before he pulled over to the shoulder, Johnson said. The driver was conscious and alert when police arrived, Johnson said. He was taken to a hospital.
The motorcyclist was declared dead at the scene. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office identified him as 71-year-old Steven Meuter on Monday.
Johnson said Friday that police are not yet sure where the truck got on the highway, why he was driving the wrong direction, or whether disorientation or intoxication played any role.
Updated with the motorcyclist’s identification from the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.
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