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Woman walks away from truck rollover |
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Thursday, 10 July 2008 |
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By Richard Toynton BLACKFOOT — A Fort Hall woman was walking around with no apparent injuries after she was trapped in a rolled pickup truck for longer than 20 minutes Wednesday afternoon on North West Main Street Highway 91.
 Morning News - Richard Toynton
Theora Punkin from Fort Hall looks up at firefighters from her red pickup truck Wednesday afternoon at the corner of West Idaho and Highway 91. She was trapped in the truck for more than 20 minutes after being clipped by a Toyota Land Cruiser exiting West Idaho Street.
Theora Punkin said she was driving a red pickup truck south when a man in a white Toyota Land Cruiser drove into her from West Idaho Street. Witnesses at the scene said it appeared that the man was attempting a left turn onto Highway 91.
“My car just flipped and there I was,” she said, pointing to her upside down vehicle.
Police received the report of the accident at 3:42 p.m., and they, along with firefighters, were dispatched to the location.
Blackfoot firefighters elevated the back end of the car with a jack to gain access to Punkin. They attempted to get the driver’s door open with a Haligan tool, which is similar to an oversized crowbar. When that didn’t work, the rescue truck was called to the scene and firefighters used the Jaws of Life to open the door.
Punkin was removed from the vehicle at 4:05 p.m. She walked herself to an ambulance where firefighters checked her for injuries. She said she wasn’t sore at all and had no bumps or bruises after the accident.
The man driving the Land Cruiser said he was from Pocatello, but refused to provide his name. He said he didn’t know what happened and that his vehicle barely touched Punkin’s. He was not injured in the accident, but admitted to being very shaken up by the incident.
He spoke with Punkin briefly after the accident.
Blackfoot Police Capt. Kurt Asmus said it’s unusual for someone to end up uninjured in a rollover accident, but the portion of Highway 91 in Blackfoot has a relatively slow speed limit of 35 mph compared to the highway speed limit of 55 mph north and south of the city.
George Stevens lives on the corner of Idaho and Highway 91 in Blackfoot and said this is the third accident he has seen on the corner since 1998.
He believes drivers attempting a left turn onto Highway 91 from West Idaho Street can’t see traffic adequately when large vehicles are parked on Highway 91 in the parking lane north of West Idaho Street.
“There’s going to be more until they do something about it.”
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Last Updated ( Friday, 11 July 2008 )
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