Safety Patrol Isp Troopers Work To Educate Drivers And Keep The State’S Highways Safe

Scenes from accidents flash before the eyes of Idaho State Police Trooper Jerry Stemm as he travels U.S. Highway 95.

Driving past Chilco Road, he remembers the man who was killed when two cars collided.

On Mica Grade, south of Coeur d’Alene, he recalls the two people who died when their car slid across the road and was T-boned by oncoming traffic.

He points with pleasure to the new turn lanes outside the Smoke Shop on the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation, saying that spot has been the site of numerous crashes.

“I don’t dwell on it or think about it, but it’s a reminder that something major happened there,” Stemm said.

As the weather chills and roads become icy, Idaho’s notoriously dangerous throughway gets even worse. Though plans are in the works to improve and widen sections of the state’s main north-south route, the public clamors for more fixes as the number of deaths mount. Last year, 35 people were killed in accidents on the highway. So far this year, 28 people have perished.

“The winter time is far more dangerous,” Stemm said. “Every winter is the same. As soon as the snow hits, people start sliding off the road.”

Handle Extra spent a day with Stemm to learn more about what an ISP trooper deals with daily. Nov. 16, Stemm drove about 200 miles and stopped a dozen people for everything from not having mud flaps to speeding. He helped a motorist who ran out of gas, ticketed abandoned vehicles and even responded to a report of an elk killed by poachers.

As an ISP trooper, Stemm’s job is patrolling the state’s highways - mostly Interstate 90 and Highway 95. However, ISP troopers can go anywhere and enforce any state law.

If he could send a message to winter drivers, it would be: Slow down and wear your seat belt.

Stemm is near-rabid about seat belt use. He ticks off accidents drivers would have survived had they been wearing safety belts.

As he pulls a man over for a broken headlight Thursday morning, he asks him to put his seat belt on, as state law dictates.

“It saves lives, trust me,” he tells the driver.

The reason Stemm is so intent on seat belt use could have something to do with the first fatal car crash he handled years ago.

It was in Shoshone County, where he worked as a deputy before coming to the ISP. A 27-year-old woman was drunk and rolled her vehicle on the highway. With no seat belt to secure her, she was thrown from the car, to the side of the road.

She hit the guardrail and her skull split in two.

“If she’d have had a seat belt on, she’d have survived,” he said simply.

Stemm, 32, has been in law enforcement for 10 years. He started as a reserve officer for the city of Pinehurst, then went to work full-time for Shoshone County. He’s been with the ISP for five years.

“My job is basically to educate people on driving and keep the roadway as safe as possible,” he said.

That means warning drivers about behavior that could result in an accident. At 9:20 a.m., Stemm pulled over a Toyota 4-Runner with oversized tires. He told the driver having such large tires requires extensions on the fenders - called flares - and mud flaps.

“Those tires will kick up rocks, throw them forward and throw them back,” Stemm said.

The driver promises to get smaller tires and Stemm gives him five days to follow through. If he doesn’t he’ll receive a $43 citation, said Stemm, who planned to follow-up.

Stemm bristles at people who say police officers don’t spend enough time chasing “real criminals.”

“We stop for a lot of little things to get to the big things. You’d be surprised how many DUIs we get stopping people for a tail light,” Stemm said. “Traffic stops, you never know what they’re going to yield.”

The 32 ISP troopers based in Coeur d’Alene have all of North Idaho to cover - from the Canadian border to the Latah County line. Of that number, four are supervisors, one focuses on hazardous material disposal and two deal with truck safety.

Stemm said he thinks Highway 95 north of Coeur d’Alene is more accident-prone than south of the city. Though the road is more narrow and curvy to the south, more people travel north, he said. More people equal more accidents, he said.

The patrol car has radar detectors affixed to the front and back windows. With a flip of a switch, Stemm can check the speed of cars coming or going.

When a logging truck flies by him Thursday morning, Stemm pulls over, but due to the nonstop traffic on Highway 95, he can’t safely turn around to give chase.

An hour and a half later, he spins his patrol car around on an empty highway south of the city to chase a Bud Light van doing 71 in a 60 mph zone.

The driver says it’s a new van and he’s not used to it. He’s doing a beer delivery and doesn’t have a seat belt on. Stemm writes a $53 ticket for speeding and $5 for not wearing a seat belt. Seat belt tickets can only be issued in conjunction with other infractions.

Speeding tickets cost $53 for 1 to 19 mph over the speed limit. That jumps to $108 for 20 mph over or higher. State law, Stemm says, defines speeding as 1 mph over.

During the day, Stemm issued several citations, but didn’t write a ticket for every infraction he spotted.

“We don’t write everything that moves,” he said. “Some people think we do, but we don’t.”

Case in point: At 12:45 p.m. he pulls over an 18-year-old woman for weaving in and out of traffic and tailgating. When he gets to her window, he sees that she’s crying. She says she just discovered her fiance is cheating on her, and now she has to go to work. She’s having trouble focusing on her driving.

Stemm said he knew the minute he saw her that he wouldn’t write a ticket. Stemm has heard almost every excuse, so he has to go with his gut feelings. He decided this young woman was telling the truth, and when the 6-foot-3-inch former high school football player tells the woman to concentrate on her driving, he’s remarkably gentle.

“I hope everything works out for you today,” he says. “Spend some time with your friends and put your seat belt on.”