ITD issues reminder to drivers after three snowplows are hit

IDAHO FALLS — Three Idaho Transportation Department snowplows were hit in a matter of days by drivers not giving plows enough room, passing on the right and not slowing down, according to officials.

“Stay at least 30 feet behind a plow, don’t pass on the right and give them a little extra space when you do go past one,” said ITD spokesman Justin Smith.

Smith said one of the incidents happened on US Highway 20 near Ashton on Thursday. A vehicle attempted to pass on the right when it collided with the plow. Nobody was injured and the plow is still in service.

“People tend to not give them enough space, they follow too closely and worst of all, they pass on the right. On the right, we have a wing plow and a lot of times, people don’t see that and run into them,” said Smith. “We also try to plow an entire lane at a time and so we take a little more space then some people expect.”

Another incident happened late Thursday on Interstate 84 near the Kimberly exit east of Twin Falls. There were no injuries but the plow was damaged and removed from service for repairs.

“Every winter, we seem to get a few snowplows hit – a lot more than we should. We need to be aware that they have a job to do, we need to be patient and let them clear our roads,” said ISP Lt. Marvin Crain.

The third incident occurred earlier this week when two plows on US-95 near Moscow and Winchester were forced off the road by drivers in opposing lanes who nearly collided with the plows head-on. Nobody was injured in this case too.

It’s a reminder for drivers to keep their distance when plows are doing their job.

“It’s very low visibility around the snowplow due to the snow being swirled in the air. They have routes that they run. So if you can just be patient and let them pull off into their pullouts or use their turnarounds, and once they do that, the roads will open up,” said Crain.