Idaho Law Blog
Authorities are continuing their investigation of a crash that occurred on December 6th in Kootenai County, Idaho. The crash took place on State Highway 54 at the intersection of Clagstone Road, at approximately 3:40 p.m.
The first vehicle involved was a 2005 International School Bus containing the driver and 31 students. The bus belongs to Lakeland Joint School District 272, and was taking children from Athol Elementary. The driver of the bus was a 38-year-old woman from Spirit Lake Idaho. She was driving the students southbound on Clagstone Road when she came to the intersection and failed to yield to the oncoming second vehicle, a 2003 Honda Civic driven by a 47-year-old man, also from Spirit Lake, Idaho. The bus collided with the Honda in the intersection, and both vehicles slid onto the south side of Highway 54. In the accident, the bus also struck an electric power pole near the road.
The driver of the Honda was not wearing a seatbelt, and was transported to a local hospital to receive care for his injuries. The driver of the bus was not injured, and the worst injury the children reported was a cut lip. All the children were checked for injuries at the scene before being loaded onto another bus and being taken to Real Life Ministries. Parents came to pick them up there.
We hope that all involved individuals are able to recover fully and quickly.
According to the Idaho Department of Transportation’s crash report, 27,679 total motor vehicle crashes occurred in 2023. Idaho’s Traffic Crash Clock indicates that, “A traffic crash occurred every 19 minutes.”
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.