Idaho Law Blog
On December 24th, two crashes occurred minutes apart from each other at the same location on US 20 in Bonneville County. Both crashes occurred around 7:40 a.m. at milepost 315, the exit to Ucon, Idaho.
The first of the crashes occurred on the overpass crossing US 20, and involved two vehicles, a white 2006 F150 and a white 2019 Chevrolet Silverado. The F150, driven by a 21-year-old man from Idaho Falls, Idaho, was traveling eastbound when he lost control of his vehicle. He swerved and crossed the center line, before striking the oncoming Chevrolet, driven by a 42-year-old man from Rigby, Idaho. Both men were wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident and had their injuries checked and treated by emergency responders at the scene of the accident.
Minutes later, as traffic was backed up due to the initial accident, four additional vehicles all traveling on US 20, got into a multi-vehicle rear-end accident. The first driver, a 20-year-old man from Rexburg, Idaho, was traveling in a 2022 RAM 3500 when he failed to stop for traffic. He rear-ended the vehicle in front of him, a 2002 Ford Explorer driven by a 42-year-old man from Rexburg, Idaho. The resulting force pushed that vehicle into the two cars in front of it, a 2024 Subaru Outback driven by a 35-year-old woman from Rigby, Idaho, and then a 2020 Kia Telluride, driven by a 49-year-old man from Rigby, Idaho. All individuals involved were wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident. The driver of the Ford Explorer was transported to a local hospital, and all other parties had their injuries checked and treated at the scene by emergency responders.
We are sorry to hear about this accident and we hope that all six individuals are able to make a full and speedy recovery.
Unfortunately, according to Idaho Transportation Department’s crash report in 2023, 22% of all crashes involving multiple vehicles were a result of head on collision. Head on collisions were the largest contributing cause of multi-vehicle crashes in 2023. Additionally, 12% of multi-vehicle crashes were caused by rear-ending. 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.