By KEITH KINNAIRDNews editor
COCOLALLA — A Washington man was injured Monday after he veered off U.S. Highway 95 and crashed through a brush thicket.
Kenneth A. Whetstone of Spokane was injured in the crash, Idaho State Police said.
State police said Whetstone, 22, was southbound when the 1994 Ford Bronco XLT he was driving went off the west side of the road near the Southside School turnoff.
What caused Whetstone to go off the road is under investigation, ISP said. Witnesses at the scene suspected an aggressive driver headed north was to blame for the 4:45 p.m. crash.
Shawn Young, a contract worker from California, said he was northbound when a dark-green sedan passed him and other motorists at about 100 mph at Cocolalla Flats, where there is a four-lane passing zone.
When the highway narrowed back down to two lanes, Young and another motorist spotted a commotion up ahead.
"We watched the dust fly up and him go into the brush," Young said.
The witnesses suspected the dark-green sedan continued to pass cars in the no-passing zone and forced Whetstone to choose between a head-on collision and the shoulder.
Whetstone's Bronco careened down a small embankment and tore through a thick stand of brush separating the highway from railroad tracks that run parallel to the road. The vehicle came to rest in a ditch that connects to the main channel of Cocolalla Creek.
The Bronco narrowly missed — by inches — two 50-foot tall cottonwood trees in the thicket.
Young and another motorist stopped and stayed with Whetstone until emergency workers arrived.
Whetstone was taken by Big Sky Paramedics to Silverwood Theme Park, where they rendezvoused with a Northwest MedStar helicopter. Whetstone was flown to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.
His condition was not immediately available late Monday. Hospital officials said Whetstone's injuries were still being evaluated in the emergency room.OeOe>?o=ueOhm°wKeith KinnairdUS95crash_5-10_snp_kdkSnpEditorial>o=ue/aKeith KinnairdUS95crash_5-10_snp_kdkSNP KEITH KOeOe>SORTBAe>AUDTAe”A”CG