Third runaway crash renews move to make highway safer

Two men were hurt Saturday when the brakes failed on a 1990 Honda Accord while they were descending the Palouse Highway grade into Colfax and crashed into the S. Palouse River flood control channel.

The report from Sheriff's Sgt. Dan Brown said Tyler Davis, 20, Sandpoint, was driving down the grade on Canyon Street at 11:51 a.m. and was unable to stop the car.

The runaway car went through the Main Street intersection, struck a pole, crashed through the fence along the channel and dropped approximately 15 feet onto the channel floor.

Davis and a passenger in the car, Jesus De La Torre-Aguilar, 18, Union Gap, sustained minor injuries.

Both were able to crawl out of the Honda which landed on the driver's side. A Colfax ambulance crew was called to the scene and transported the passengers to the hospital for a checkup.

The runaway accident follows a July 15 runaway accident in which a hay truck driver managed to avoid the channel by turning his tractor-tailer unit into the alley behind the Almota Elevator Co. office.

The driver of the truck also rolled across the Main Street intersection.

Another runaway accident involved collisions along the west end of Canyon street in May.

In both the earlier mishaps, vehicles owned by Greg's Electric were hit and damaged.

Saturday's runway accident led to a special meeting of the Colfax Council's Public Safety committee Monday night in advance of the regular city council session. Councilman Mark Mackleit called the meeting to discuss potential solutions to the problem.

Mackleit called on Trooper Jim Retzer to report to the full council on what transpired at the public safety session.

Retzer, who was unopposed after filing to run for mayor of Colfax, told the council he has contacted the district traffic engineers for the Department of Transportation office in Spokane, and they have agreed to work with the city to try to come up with some type of solution to the problem.

The state at one time installed detection equipment designed to change the Main Street traffic light to green when a vehicle was descending the grade at an abnormal speed, but that system was eventually removed.

Retzer reported the state designers are more receptive to working with the city on the problem than they were after the July 15 accident .

In addition to installing the speed detection device years ago the state also installed a lane pullout at the top of the Palouse Highway grade east of the cemetery road intersection. Truckers are advised to use the pullout to check their brakes before starting the descent into Colfax.