Semi driver stung by bee veers off highway, loses load of cheese in lake, WA cops say

A bee caused a bit of chaos on a Washington highway when it stung a driver, officials say.

Joshua Young, 40, was driving a semi loaded with cheese on Wednesday when a bee stung him, he told the Washington State Patrol. He was traveling from Idaho to Tillamook, Oregon, with the cheese.

The sting was so bad, it caused him to veer off the road and into the guardrail, Washington State Patrol Trooper Will Finn told McClatchy News. Young wasn’t injured during the crash.

A Washington State Patrol spokesperson said he did not know where Young is from or where in Idaho the cheese shipment originated.

The semi slammed into the guardrail on State Route 14 and caused 300 feet of damage, Finn said. The semi then traveled down an embankment, flipped and landed on its top.

The crash caused a diesel fuel leak that was contained before entering nearby Rowland Lake, and cheese spilled out. Some cheese rolled farther down the embankment and into the lake.

“Clean up and recovery is estimated to take two days with intermittent lane closures,” Finn said in an email. “Department of Ecology and the Department of Fish and Wildlife were notified as a precaution due to the fuel spill and product entering Rowland Lake.”

This story was originally published April 16, 2021 at 2:22 PM with the headline "Semi driver stung by bee veers off highway, loses load of cheese in lake, WA cops say."