Logging Truck Driver Just Misses Trip Over Guardrail

The driver of a flatbed tractor-trailer lost control of his rig and nearly went over a 500-foot embankment off Interstate 90 early Saturday afternoon.

Mitchell Phiefer, 35, of North Dakota was treated at Kootenai Medical Center for minor injuries and released.

Phiefer’s load of lumber tumbled down the embankment like pick-up sticks, some landing in the barrow pit of Lake Coeur d’Alene Drive.

The accident occurred about seven miles east of Coeur d’Alene. Eastbound lanes were blocked for about an hour and a half while the rig was being removed.

Idaho State Police Sgt. Jay Jensen said the driver lost control at a curve near the Yellowstone Road overpass, and the rig fell on its side.

After sliding along the roadway, it somehow righted itself and finally stopped with its front tires dangling over the guardrail and embankment, he said.

Phiefer was cited for inattentive driving, the ISP reported.

A year ago, truck driver Paul Golen of Cataldo died when his rig sped off the roadway and down an embankment in the same vicinity. xxxx