From the Bonners Ferry Police Department
In the last two weeks the Bonners Ferry Police Department has written over 50 excessive speeding tickets within the city limits of Bonners Ferry. Idaho Code defines Excessive Speed as traveling 16 miles per hour or more over the posted speed limit. The City Police is alerting the public there has been a massive increase in traffic through our area, which likely has been observed by the motoring public as well.
Along with this increase in traffic we are seeing an increase in people driving at unsafe speeds, cutting in and out of traffic, and creating hazards for the general motoring public within the city limits as well as out in the County.
Your Bonners Ferry Police Department wants everyone to be safe and see a change in driving behavior from everyone on our roadways. Please slow down, put your phone away, and be mindful of other vehicles/pedestrians around you. Nobody wants to receive the phone call that their loved one was injured or killed in a motor vehicle crash that could have been prevented.
Boundary County schools begin classes on September 3, 2024. The Police Department wants to take this opportunity to also remind everyone that on Hwy 95 between Cody St and McCall St, the speed limit will change during the day on Monday through Thursday, from 35 MPH to 25 MPH with a flashing sign notating the change in speed. When the lights are activated, please slow your vehicle to 25 MPH. Speeding through a school zone is listed under Idaho Code 49-658 (listed below).
49-658. School zone speed limit — Penalty. (1) No person shall operate a vehicle in excess of the posted maximum speed limit established for a posted school zone. If a posted school zone speed limit sign includes the words “when children are present,” the term shall mean one (1) or more children. The definition applies to children present on the same side of the street as the school building or across the street from the school building in any direction within the marked school zone.
For the first few weeks of school, it is very important to be aware of your driving due to children who have not been crossing the street all summer long, getting back in the swing of crossing Hwy 95. Please be mindful of the crosswalks that have been installed. If the lights are flashing on the crosswalks you must come to a stop, and it is the pedestrian who has right of way according to Idaho Code 49-702 (listed below).
49-702. Pedestrians’ right-of-way in crosswalks. (1) When traffic-control signals are not in place or not in operation the driver of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way, slowing down or stopping, if need be, to yield to a pedestrian crossing the highway within a crosswalk.
A big thing that would help would be reinstalling the traffic light at Alderson or installing a traffic light near the Badger Den. It was stupid to remove the Alderson light. There have so many accidents and near misses. Forget about a left hand turn during the peak school drop off times from Alderson to main!