Idaho Law Blog
Idaho State Police are continuing to investigate a three vehicle collision that occurred on April 14th. The crash took place on US 95 near milepost 495, just before noon. A blue Honda Odyssey van, a blue Chevrolet GMT-400 pickup, and a Honda Ridgeline were all involved.
At the time of the accident, the first vehicle, the Honda Odyssey driven by a 33-year-old man from Spokane, Washington, was traveling southbound. As he traveled, he failed to slow in time to avoid the vehicle in front of him, the Chevrolet, driven by a 50-year-old man from Naples with a juvenile passenger. After being rear ended, the Chevy was forced into the northbound traffic, colliding with the Honda Ridgeline, driven by a 79-year-old man with a 72-year-old female passenger, both from Coeur d’Alene. Following the collision, both the Ridgeline and the Chevy caught fire.
The 50-year-old driver of the Chevy was fatally wounded and passed away at the scene. The juvenile passenger was transported via life flight to a large hospital. The female passenger of the Ridgeline was transported to a local hospital by ground ambulance. No report is given regarding the other individuals involved.
We are sorry to hear about this accident and send our deepest condolences to the friends and family of the man who passed. We also hope that all other injured individuals will be able to make a full and speedy recovery.
Unfortunately, according to Idaho Transportation Department’s crash report in 2023, 17% of all motor vehicle crashes were related to or caused by distracted driving. Of that 17%, 48 people were killed because of these accidents. Idaho Department of Transportation says that of these crashes, “failing to yield” is the largest contributing cause. Multiple vehicle crashes accounted for 72% of all motor vehicle crashes in 2023, leaving a total of 19,807 multi-vehicle crashes.
LIABILTIY FOR ACCIDENTS IN IDAHO
No one who gets into or drives a vehicle wants to be involved in an accident. But unfortunately, car accidents happen. Idaho uses a fault-based system to impose liability on the party most at-fault for the accident. A legal principle called “comparative negligence,” is applied to determine the negligence of all involved parties. If the Plaintiff’s negligence is less than 50%, then she generally can recover damages from the Defendant (or the Defendant’s insurance policy).
Our personal injury attorneys can advise injured persons about their particular case and how Idaho’s legal principles of negligence, causation, and liability apply to it.
Notes: The information used to create this blog post comes primarily from the Idaho State Police News Releases. Information has not been independently verified by this firm. Please report any inaccuracies in this post to our firm. We will correct or remove the article, if asked.
Disclaimer: This blog is not intended as solicitation for professional employment to a specific person. It is intended as a legal news and advertisement post. The post does not constitute legal or medical advice.