Safety Aids Credited In Head-On Crash Broken Collarbone Worst Injury In Wreck That Broke One Driveline

A head-on wreck on U.S. Highway 95 Saturday morning didn’t claim a single life - something police called miraculous.

Police said no one was killed because all five occupants of the two cars were wearing seat belts, in airbag-equipped cars.

The accident happened at about 9 a.m. Saturday five miles south of Athol. Nineteen-year-old Kristin Allen of Post Falls, heading south, lost control of a 2000 Nissan X-Terra on a patch of ice, crossed the center line and struck a full-size Dodge pickup head-on, police said.

Trooper Mark Todd of the Idaho State Police said Troy Shelton, 30, of Athol, tried to avoid the Nissan by veering his pickup onto the shoulder, but the cars collided anyway. “The impact was severe enough to break the driveline on the southbound vehicle,” Todd said. “We’ll see a lot of bad crashes, but when drivelines start coming off, it’s pretty obvious what a body would look like.”

That’s where the seat belts and airbags came in.

Shelton’s wife, Laura Shelton, 36, suffered the worst injury. She was at Kootenai Medical Center on Saturday afternoon in fair condition, with a broken collarbone.

But the other people in the accident were treated and released. Jody Vincent, 20, of Spokane, and Brandon Allen, 16, of Post Falls were in the Nissan.

The lesson: “Always wear your seat belt,” Todd said. “Drive according to your abilities, and according to the conditions.”

The other lesson:

“It’s never the roadway or the weather that causes the crash. If it did, everybody would be crashing,” he said. Kristin Allen was cited for driving too fast for the road conditions.

“The responsibility is the driver’s,” Todd said.

ISP is mounting a campaign to get that message to the public, starting next year.

“First we’re going to get the word out, that it’s no longer acceptable to say you hit the ice,” Todd said. “Then we’ll act accordingly, through enforcement.”