A modern U.S. Highway 95 wouldn’t have saved Samuel S. Wohali, 59, of Sandpoint last April. Wohali died from head injuries when the rear tire of his Harley Davidson locked up for no apparent reason and flipped the motorcycle 11 miles south of Sandpoint.

Even if Idaho’s so-called “Goat Trail” was a state-of-the-art freeway from Boise to Canada, Joanne M. Weathermon, 46, of Spokane would have died last July 25 when she pulled out in front of a motor home at Silverwood.

Driver error causes crashes and fatalities on the best roadways. Add in drunken driving, speeding, aggressive driving and road rage, and everyone is at some risk when he or she is traveling in a vehicle. An upgraded Highway 95, however, could provide enough leeway to enable drivers to avoid a head-on collision on the windy curves through the Palouse or to pass safely in sections where they’re now forced to follow slow-moving chip trucks for miles.

That’s why the Idaho Legislature and the Idaho Department of Transportation need to make reconstruction of Highway 95 a top priority. Since 1999, The Spokesman-Review has asked the Idaho State Police to notify us whenever someone is killed on the highway. We’ve printed those names in annual winter roundups, sometimes with photos, to remind readers that tragedies involving real people occur regularly on the dangerous highway. Wohali and Weathermon were among the 29 motorists who were killed last year on Highway 95. About two people a month have died since we’ve been following Highway 95 statistics closely.

Today, we repeat our mantra about fixing the road and reaffirm our support for Gov. Dirk Kempthorne’s call to fund major projects on the highway with Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle, or GARVEE, bonds. Kempthorne is expected to challenge the Legislature to authorize the use of the bonds next week in his State of the State address.

GARVEE bonding would allow Idaho to borrow against its estimated $200 million in future annual federal highway appropriations to fund major projects. No state tax money would be needed to pay off the bonds. Fourteen states already are using the GARVEE bond capability now.

This bonding approach has two major strengths: It allows the state to tackle major highway construction at one time, quickly. Also, it saves money in the long run because highway reconstruction costs inflate considerably with each passing year. On the other hand, the state runs the risk of tying up federal money for years when it has no way of knowing what infrastructure emergencies it might face in the future. Kempthorne has indicated he will include major road projects in other parts of the state in his proposal to minimize this danger.

The risk is worth taking because there’s no other way to fix large sections of the deadly highway without a major infusion of money.