2200 Crashes in One Idaho City and You Can’t Blame Utah Drivers

Sure, Utah drivers cannot negotiate a turn on a straightaway. However, most of the accidents that take place in Twin Falls involve Idaho drivers. An astounding 2,200 crashes occur in the city every year.

They Happen Without Warning

I popped into Walgreens for just a few minutes last Friday, and when I came out, traffic on Pole Line Road was snarled. It didn't appear anyone was seriously hurt, but there were two ambulances there to be sure—two that couldn't be responding to other calls because someone didn't safely change lanes, by the looks of what I saw.

Credit Bill Colley.

The day before, same stretch of road, I saw a car turn off Harrison Street directly in front of another driver. The guy who made the turn seemed oblivious to the SUV that nearly plowed into his car. I was behind the SUV, and it took my breath away.

The drive home from work takes me about 15 minutes and is anything but routine. On most days, I figure I see about three near misses. I'm not keeping a log, but that appears worse to me than just a few years ago. Somehow, everything went to pieces after the lockdown period five years ago.

Half a Dozen Crashes or More Per Day

Not that it was safe then to get on the road. The figure of 2,200 accidents was supplied to me by city police, and it wasn't much better before the so-called pandemic.

You do the math. Twin Falls has an average of between six to seven car accidents a day. And those are the ones reported, and there are a lot of fender benders in parking lots that the cops don't even respond to if there are no injuries.

If there's one message I hear most often from law enforcement, it's this: Put down the phones!