A 37-year-old Snoqualmie Ridge woman was badly hurt in a highway accident New Year’s Eve, after she lost control of her car while swerving to avoid an unsecured tarp.
Lory Moon, 37, broke her pelvis and was in serious but stable condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle following the accident, which happened just before 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 31, on Interstate 90’s Preston dip.
Since then, she has had surgery to repair her pelvis and was expected to go home this week.
“She’s up and mobile,” said Moon’s boyfriend, Jason Kester. “She can’t walk but she is able to transfer herself to her wheelchair.”
Moon was told she’d be in a wheelchair for the next three months and will need six months to recover, said her ex-mother-in-law, Rose Mastberg.
Moon was driving west on I-90 when her vehicle swerved to avoid a large, rolled up tarp on the freeway. Her car launched into the air, entered the median, and rolled.
Investigators with the Washington State Patrol have asked witnesses to come forward with information about where the tarp came from.
State Patrol Det. Stacy Moate said the tarp appears to be the type used by some semi-truck drivers to cover their loads. If the tarp was negligently secured, the driver could be pursued under “Maria’s Law,” which criminalizes the failure to properly secure items in vehicles.
“We won’t know until we find out where it came from, and the circumstances,” to find fault, Moate said.
“We’re not concerned about finding the truck, but Washington State Patrol is still actively investigating,” Kester said. “The reality is that, even if they do find them, it doesn’t change her current position.”
Moon, who is raising a 4-year-old daughter, is being helped by family members to regain her health and strength.
Friends have created a benefit fund and are organizing a fundraiser, date to be determined, to be held at Finaghty’s Irish Pub in Snoqualmie. Proceeds help Moon pay for medical bills.
For more information on the fundraiser, call Finaghty’s at (425) 888-8833.
If you have details about the accident, contact Det. Moate at (425) 401-7746.
