A Naples man died today and his juvenile passenger was LifeFlited to an area hospital following a fiery three-vehicle collision on Highway 95 near mile 495.
According to the Idaho State Police, the Naples man, 50, and his passenger were traveling south on Highway 95 in a blue Chevrolet GMT-400 when it was rear-ended by a blue Honda Odyssey driven by a 33-year-old Spokane man.
The impact sent Chevy into the northbound lane and into the path of a northbound Honda Ridgeline driven by a 79-year old Coeur d’Alene man, traveling with a v72-year-woman also of Coeur d’Alene.
Both the pickup and the Ridgeline caught fire on impact.
Bob Copeland, driving the pickup, was pronounced dead at the scene. The extent of his passengers injuries are undisclosed. The woman in the Ridgeline was transported to Boundary Community Hospital by ambulance.
Bob came over to my parent’s home in 2022 to help out. He was always so kind. His smile was always a nice welcome. I’m so sorry to his family and friends. 95 has been full of tragic accidents.
Thank you, Kelly. Bob was my nephew and you’re right, he was very kind. He loved people and would help anyone.
Kelli, thank you! I’m his aunt in Arkansas. There are not enough words to describe this amazing man.
I’ve driven that road for the last year, there have been too many fatalities on that road. I have only seen police presence going into Bonners or into Sandpoint. I feel there needs to be more police patrolling the whole highway. The road between Sandpoint and Priest River has multiple County and State police patrolling maybe Bonner County could put more police on highway 95 North and the State more on the Boundary Country side? I don’t know if Boundary has Country police. The State officer that sits at the bottom of the hill going into Bonners Ferry could sit further South….
Boundary has a sheriffs office but their funding is abysmal. They are critically short staffed because you can make more money dipping fries at McDonald’s.
But this is emergency services up here in general. If you think this is scary look at the small numbers and median age of your volunteer firefighters….
Boundary County Sheriff’s Deputies patrol our county roads and highways, as do Idaho State Patrol officers. The responsibility for operating a vehicle safely and not causing accidents rests with the driver, not with law enforcement.
Regarding your comment about our county firefighters … approximately 65% of firefighters across the United States are volunteers. In Boundary County, 100% of firefighters are volunteers. They are not paid a salary and they attend regular weekly training in their off-time from their day jobs. Our county fire districts are always looking for people willing to generously give their time to serve their community. If you would like to volunteer your time as a firefighter you can go to this website and find contact information for your local fire chief: http://boundarycountyfire.com. I’m sure they would welcome your participation.
People drive way too fast on Highway 95 they endangered not only their lives but loved ones like Bob’s God bless his soul we will miss you Bob.
Bobby was and is my friend, my thoughts and prayers are for his family now. Always a good guy. I’ll see him again in the future. God willing.