Safety at Airbase road and S. 5th West/ W. Jackson

Hello Mountain Homers!

How scary is it to witness an accident almost occur? What would you do if you kept seeing near misses occur at the same location over and over? In the recent weeks I have noticed a trend of near miss accidents at the intersection where S. 5th West and W. Jackson Street intersect at Air Base Road. It blows my mind drivers do not know who has the right of way so let’s clarify that right now.

Why do I even bother to take the time to write about this? The reason is simple, from standing on the corner of W. Jackson waiting to cross Airbase road to get on S. 5^th West, I have seen vehicles almost collide into the side of school busses, other drivers, and have even seen children almost get hit in the cross walk! No, I am not a street walker, I am a mother and I was standing on the corner of W. Jackson waiting to cross Airbase road with my son. He goes to West Elementary and when I can, I walk him home. You might have even seen us... I bring the dog along for fun! Anyway, I CANNOT BELIEVE someone would actually HIT…. Better yet BROADSIDE a school bus, but how can these drivers not realize that they are in the wrong???!!! I have seen drivers pulling campers turn right in front of other drivers who are going straight. I have seen drivers turn directly into the path of school busses to the point the buss had to stop in the middle of the road to avoid getting hit, and I have seen people fail to look before turning and almost hit a child in the crosswalk. I find it is just ridiculous and it’s about time someone make it clear who has the right of way…

Now, just for clarification a near miss accident is "a near collision"(Merriam-Webster, n.d.). The next thing you might want to know is how do I know who has the right of way. Glad you asked, I have called the Mountain Home Police Department and spoke to the traffic patrol Lieutenant to verify who has the right of way in this intersection. Also, you can view the Idaho Traffic Law Manual for more information. So here we go:

For the people who are good with directions using road names, and cardinal directions:

If you are on traveling south on W. Jackson and are turning west onto Airbase road at a green light, YOU have the right of way.

If you are on traveling south on W. Jackson and are continuing straight onto S. 5^th West onto Airbase road at a green light, YOU have the right of way.

Drivers traveling north on S. 5^th West and turning west, onto Airbase road, MUST YIELD to the drivers traveling on W. Jackson.

For the people who are good with directions using road names and landmarks:

If you are headed towards Subway on W. Jackson and are turning right towards Pizza Hut onto Airbase road at a green light, YOU have the right of way. (Make sure you turn into the correct lane which is the lane closest to the curb.)

If you are traveling towards Subway on W. Jackson and are continuing straight onto S. 5^th West at a green light, YOU have the right of way.

Drivers traveling towards Airbase road on S. 5^th West and turning left onto Airbase road towards Pizza Hut, MUST YIELD to the drivers turning west on W. Jackson.

Thanks for listening!

References

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Near Miss | Definition of Near Miss by Merriam-Webster.