Idaho Falls, ID — About two weeks ago, there was an accident just east of Idaho Falls that injured a young woman and a juvenile. Police said that Makaylah Mantooth, a 19-year-old location Idaho Falls resident, and a juvenile in her car were both hurt after they were rear-ended by an 18-wheeler.
This happened at about 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 22, 2015 along U.S. 20, just east of Idaho Falls.
According to a report released by the Idaho State Police, Ms. Mantooth was driving her Mercury Villager minion west along U.S. 20 that morning with a semi-truck driving behind her.
As they reached mile post 312, it appears that Mantooth braked, but the semi-truck driver didn’t notice in time and rear-ended her. The impact sent her minivan rolling over, where it landed in oncoming traffic.
Both Mantooth and a juvenile passenger in the minivan were taken to a hospital via ambulance for their injuries, but it’s not clear how badly they were hurt.
The semi-truck driver was identified as Tony Paterson, another Idaho Falls resident, and he wasn’t harmed. There’s no word on whether he was going to be cited for rear-ending Mantooth’s car.
Map of Idaho Falls
Commentary:
This accident appears to be the fault of the truck driver, if I’m reading the Idaho State Police’s reports correctly. According to them, the driver of the semi-truck simply failed to brake in time to avoid the victim’s car, which seems like quite the oversight to me.
If that’s really what happened, then I think this truck driver and whatever company he was working for, if that applies here, ought to make things right by taking responsibility for what happened.
Of course, I’m always telling my readers that just because the police report puts someone at fault doesn’t mean the insurance company has to agree with them. Heck, I’ve had insurance companies deny claims where their driver was photographed running a red light. But it’s not about what you know in these situations, it’s about what you can prove to a jury.
That’s why it’s not good to simply rely on the police report as the sole investigation into an accident, it’s best to have a separate investigation done so that all the facts are gathered. Otherwise, the trucking company might claim that their driver wasn’t really at fault and leave it up to the victim to prove otherwise — and the trucking company has more time and money than your average person to wait it out.
— Grossman Law Offices
