Whatcom motorcycle rider dies in hit-and-run crash Thursday on I-5 in Bellingham

A 45-year-old Whatcom County man was killed when the motorcycle he was riding on Interstate 5 in Bellingham reportedly collided with another vehicle that left the scene. The cause of the fatal crash remains under investigation as the Washington State Patrol searches for the suspected hit-and-run driver.

Joel D. Hansen, of Ferndale, died at the scene of the hit-and-run crash, which occurred at approximately 9:01 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6, along northbound I-5 just south of the Lakeway exit, according to the State Patrol report.

It was the first of two fatal crashes along I-5 in Bellingham in a 12-hour period, as a single car and pedestrian were involved in an incident that resulted in a death Friday morning, Oct. 7, north of the Bakerview Road exit.

According to the report on Thursday evening’s crash:

▪ The unknown vehicle suspected of hit-and-run and Hansen’s 2021 Honda FXBBS were both northbound along I-5 approaching the Lakeway exit when they collided.

▪ Hansen was ejected from his motorcycle and came to rest in the left lane, and the unknown suspect left the scene in an unknown direction.

▪ A 2000 Toyota 4Runner driven northbound by a 23-year-old man from Warrenton, Oregon, stopped on the left shoulder of I-5 to check on Hansen.

▪ A 2002 Peterbuilt 378 driven by a 68-year-old Stanwood man also was northbound on I-5, when the driver spotted an uninvolved disabled vehicle on the right shoulder with its hazard lights flashing. The semi driver changed lanes from the right to the left and struck Hansen, who was still in the roadway. The semi then struck the 4Runner on the left shoulder.

Neither the driver of the 4Runner nor the semi suffered injuries, according to the report.

The cause of the initial crash between the motorcycle and the hit-and-run suspect remains under investigation, the report states.

“Right now, the (hit-and-run) vehicle is unknown,” Trooper Kelsey Harding told The Bellingham Herald Friday morning, Oct. 7. “Our detectives are working to figure that out, but just because we don’t know right now doesn’t mean down the road we won’t find the fourth vehicle or its description. They’ve done it before with a whole lot less.”

Both lanes of northbound I-5 were blocked, according to a tweet by Trooper Jacob Kennett at the time, and traffic was diverted to the Samish Way exit while the crash scene was investigated.

The Washington State Department of Transportation did not report that all lanes were cleared until a tweet at 2:43 a.m. Friday.

This is the second time this year that there have been two fatal crashes on Whatcom County roadways within a 24-hour period, as there also were two on March 16.

The two fatal crashes Thursday and Friday bring the total number of deaths on Whatcom County highways in 2022 to 15, including three that involved motorcycles, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation Crash Data Portal. In 2021, WSDOT reported there were 16 fatal crashes resulting in 19 deaths in Whatcom County, including two crashes that involved motorcycles.