Idaho Interstate Pileup Injures At Least 10 People

Poor weather conditions are to blame for an Idaho Interstate pileup that is said to have injured at least 10 people. Local authorities say that the crash happened as emergency responders tried to clear a previous wreck on Interstate 84.

Idaho State Police spokeswoman, Teresa Baker, said in a statement that a motorist in a black Subaru tried to move to the right lane, away from the previous crash, but ended up clipping a silver Subaru. “A logging truck then hit the black car, causing a chain-reaction crash in the interstate’s westbound lanes that included four other tractor trailers.”

ABC News stated that slick roads and quickly moving fog were to blame for the pileup that not only involved the logging truck, but over 40 other vehicles. Idaho Press-Tribune reported that at least 46 vehicles were involved in the pileup on westbound I-84 near the Ten Mile exit.

Baker said that 10 people were transported to local hospitals, including the driver of the black Subaru. Baker reported that the man had to be extricated from his vehicle which was crushed to the point where there was little to no room left for him inside it.

“There was just a little compartment in there, and he was in there,” Baker said. “It took them about an hour to get him out.”

Idaho State Police Captain Bill Gardiner told reporters that the fog rolled in within a three to four-minute time frame. “Witnesses say you could see 30 to 40 feet in front of you — that’s all.”

“There was crash upon crash upon crash,” Baker said. “It’s a significant event. I’m sure there are many people out here who have never seen that many at once.” Local authorities believe that the quickly moving fog caught a lot of drivers off guard:

“It’s a perfect storm,” Gardiner said. “First off, you have icy roads, and then you have the weather change in an instant like that. Then you have people driving too fast for the conditions of the road, sprinkled with a little bit of inattention.”

Of the 10 people hospitalized as a result of the Idaho interstate pileup, the extent of their injuries are currently unknown, though there have been no reports of any critical or life-threatening injuries.