'Blessing in disguise'Close call for cab driver
<p>A Scott's Taxi van is loaded onto a tow truck Friday night on Sherman Avenue in Coeur d'Alene. An alleged drunk driver was described by witnesses to traveling 60 miles per hour in the 25 miles per hour zone when it crashed in the parked vehicle near the corner of Fourth Street and Sherman Avene.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - It could have been much, much worse.
As Friday night spilled into Saturday morning, an allegedly drunk driver plowed into a taxi van parked along Sherman Avenue in downtown Coeur d'Alene.
The driver of the white 1999 Pontiac Montana van, who had no passengers at the time, was looking down at his cell phone.
Waiting in front of the Beacon pub at Sherman and Fourth Street, he was in a great position to pick up people who had been out drinking and needed a safe ride home.
However, it was then that he was suddenly struck by another vehicle, as the clock struck 1:24 a.m.
Witnesses spotted a blue 2007 Nissan Altima speeding eastbound at approximately 55-60 mph on Sherman, according to a police report. The posted speed limit is 25 mph.
"The scene was a very large area of damage and debris," the report said. A utility pole was severed on the north side of Sherman, and a park bench was hit.
The driver of the Altima, identified in the report as Jordan N. Moffett, of Coeur d'Alene, was given a breath test.
She blew blood-alcohol-level readings of 0.165 and 0.162, while the legal limit is 0.08. She was cited for DUI, according to the police report.
Despite the trauma and damage of the collision, it's fortunate the van was sitting there at that moment, said Bob Sisson, night manager for Scott's Taxi.
"Otherwise she would have plowed into the Beacon," Sisson said. "It was kind of a blessing in disguise."
About 80 percent of the people who are clients of Scott's Taxi on Friday and Saturday nights are people who have been out drinking alcohol, he said.
"We're in the bars seven days a week, talking to bartenders, talking to people drinking," Sisson said. "We're all about the public safety."
Sisson said the driver suffered some broken ribs.
"He is doing OK, for the most part," Sisson said Tuesday.
The driver had to go to the hospital after the adrenaline from the impact wore off, he said.
"He didn't see it coming, so he didn't tense up," Sisson said.
The vehicle, on the other hand, is totaled.
"It looks like it went through a demolition derby," Sisson said. "The driver side was caved in, and the rear axle had been busted off the van."