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Proceed with caution

by KAYE THORNBRUGH
Staff Writer | September 20, 2020 1:40 AM

RATHDRUM — Michelle and Scott McDonald were watching TV at home on Sept. 10 when they heard the screech of tires and a loud bang.

After 20 years of living about 300 feet from the intersection of Highway 53 and Atlas Road, it wasn’t an unfamiliar sound.

The couple ran outside, where they found a semi truck tipped over and a car resting on the northbound shoulder of the roadway. She called 911 while he helped two men climb out of the truck cab.

“I call 911 on the regular,” Michelle McDonald said. “It’s a bad, bad spot. This last one was really bad.”

Diane Clarke, 70, of Greenacres, was reportedly driving southbound on Atlas in a 2007 Acura MDX around 8:20 p.m. and failed to stop at the stop sign. Dan Brison, 62, of Athol, was reportedly driving westbound on Highway 53 in a 2020 Western semi truck.

The vehicles collided and Brison struck the Acura on the driver-side door. The semi truck went off the southbound shoulder of the roadway and tipped over, while the Acura came to rest on the northbound shoulder.

Clark, Brison and his passenger, Charles Farley, 34, of Oldtown, were transported to Kootenai Health with unknown injuries. All occupants were wearing seatbelts.

The roadway was blocked for about two hours. An investigation is ongoing.

McDonald said there was another crash earlier that afternoon. She estimates there are about six accidents at that intersection per year, though she noted that two in one day was a first.

“It seems like we’re getting more and more,” she said.

Low visibility at night is a big factor in these accidents, McDonald said. Lighting is poor at the intersection, and drivers frequently blow through the stop sign.

“I can’t believe we haven’t had more deaths,” she said.

Because they live so close to the intersection, McDonald said she and her husband are braced for an accident to impact them directly.

“We’ve been waiting for years for it to be our turn,” she said.

The crashes themselves aren’t the only cause for concern. McDonald said her husband could smell diesel as he helped Brison and Farley out of the semi truck.

“One spark and this whole area would’ve burned,” she said.

McDonald said she thinks flashing lights at the stop sign, or some other measure to increase visibility, would cut down on the number of collisions.

She also urged motorists to be mindful when approaching a highway.

“Just because we live rural doesn’t mean you can drive like a bat out of hell,” she said. “There are people who live here. There are kids. Just because it’s not a city block full of homes doesn’t mean there aren’t risks.”

The Idaho Transportation Department announced in June a seven-year plan of the state’s transportation improvements, which includes a flashing beacon at Highway 53 and Atlas Road in 2027.

photo

Residents who live near the intersection of Highway 53 and Atlas Road in Rathdrum say car accidents are a regular occurrence. The accident pictured in this photo happened Feb. 3, 2019.