Driver standing by truck struck

A Coeur d’Alene man was critically injured Friday afternoon when a car hit him while he stood by his lumber truck at the side of State Highway 53, just west of Rathdrum, Idaho.

The Idaho State Patrol said Chris E. Haskin’s truck was pushed 150 feet when Blanchard resident Keith A. Nichols drove his 2001 Pontiac Bonneville onto the shoulder, plowing into the back of the truck and striking Haskin.

Haskin had parked beside the westbound lane, near Greensferry Road, and was standing on the traffic side of the truck, which belonged to Alpine Lumber Supply of Post Falls.

Both men were taken to Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur d’Alene, where Nichols was treated and released, and Haskin remained in critical condition late Friday.

The highway was closed for about two hours.