Officials urge caution during holiday travel

SANDPOINT — With the holidays in full swing there are more travelers on the road and a need for greater vigilance, according to an Idaho State Police press release.

“With increased traffic volumes comes an increased need for vigilance behind the wheel,” said Lieutenant Colonel Fritz Zweigart in the release. “We urge everyone to slow down, buckle up, and never drive under the influence. Together, we can prevent needless tragedies and make this holiday season safer.”

Last year, there were 300 crashes statewide during the Thanksgiving holiday, according to ISP. There were 18 accidents during the week of Thanksgiving in Bonner County alone, according to data from the Idaho Transportation Department, though only one was qualified as a serious crash.

A serious crash is defined as a crash that results in fatalities or serious injuries, according to the ITD.

Captain Rick Bailey of the Sandpoint Police Department told the Daily Bee there is usually an uptick in accidents in the area around the holidays — especially on the local highways — but it is largely dependent on weather.

“People need to slow down and drive for the weather conditions on the roadways,” Bailey said.

Bailey, who has been in law enforcement for 36 years in the area, said he has seen the traffic in the county increase considerably in the last 5 to 10 years.

With the increase in traffic has come an increase in accidents. ITD data shows a steady climb in the number of accidents in Bonner County over the past five years, from 458 crashes in 2018 to 661 in 2023, with a spike to 710 crashes in 2022.

Similarly, ITD data shows a steady climb from 22 suspected serious crashes in 2018 to 39 in 2023.

The cause for this increase in accidents may be an increase in the number of people on the roads but Bailey said he has also seen an increase in distracted driving over his years in Bonner County.

He said that he rides his bike to work and has had two near accidents with cars due to distracted driving in the last two weeks.

At 6 foot 5 inches tall and riding a fat-tire bicycle, Bailey is not sure how the drivers missed him. He expects they simply were not paying attention; something he said can be incredibly dangerous.

“Inattention is a huge factor,” Bailey said. “You can travel hundreds of feet (in seconds) if you are going highway speeds.”

Of the 3,425 crashes in Bonner County in the last five years, 719 of them were due to distracted driving according to ITD data; which works out to be a little over one in every five crashes.

Bailey said it has gotten to the point where he has been informed the state is planning to put up signs warning drivers about cell phone use while driving on highways and Sandpoint Police plan to put up similar signs in Sandpoint.

Distracted driving is not the leading cause of accidents in Bonner County, however, that distinction belongs to aggressive driving.

According to ITD data, aggressive driving accounted for 1,306 crashes in Bonner County in the last five years; almost 40% of all crashes. 68 of those crashes were qualified as serious and 20 were fatal according to ITD data.

Aggressive driving is also suspected as the cause of a recent accident outside Elmira that killed a juvenile and hospitalized four others.

Bailey encouraged drivers to slow down and leave earlier to give themselves enough time to arrive safely at their destination this holiday season.