Officials say seat belt saved driver

An 18-year-old driver whose vehicle plunged end-over-end down a steep embankment west of High Drive on Tuesday evening survived because he was wearing a seat belt, fire officials said.

He was taken to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. His name and condition were not available Wednesday.

The victim’s crumpled car was found midway down the steep hillside by a hiker, who called for help from the scene about 6:30 p.m. and then climbed up the hill to meet firefighters coming down from High Drive, said Battalion Chief Steve Sabo in a press release Tuesday night.

The accident apparently occurred shortly before 5:30 p.m. when a witness driving along state Highway 195 in Latah Valley saw the car plunge down the hill. The witness called in the incident but did not wait for firefighters who responded to the bottom of the hill at Highway 195 and Thorpe Road.

Firefighters could not find the wreckage from above or below and returned to other duties.

An hour later, the hiker, using the trail network along the hillside, found the vehicle in heavy brush, which apparently had stopped the car’s plunge just short of an even more treacherous pitch of the hillside, Sabo said. The call to authorities came by cell phone from the scene.

Eighteen firefighters, including a technical team trained for high-angle rescues, worked their way down the hillside and extricated the driver from the car while at the same time tending his injuries. Two AMR ambulance crews also were involved.

A special single-wheeled stretcher was used to carry the man back up to High Drive.

Sabo said the man’s medical condition may have caused the accident, but the incident was under investigation by police.