Ada County has seen multiple traffic-related incidents hit headlines in recent months.
A hit-and-run in downtown Boise left two people with critical injuries in June, and a fatal crash took the life of a teenager in Star last week after a vehicle attempted to pass a semi-truck in the oncoming traffic lane.
An official ruling on whether aggressive or criminal driving behaviors were at play in these incidents won’t come until investigations conclude. Regardless of the root cause, they have kept the safety of driving in Idaho as a principal concern in the minds of many, including the agencies tasked with maintaining roadway and highway safety.
The summer months, the most dangerous for drivers in the state, bring increased traffic from travelers as well as increased resources from law enforcement dedicated to actively curb and respond to reports of a particular behavior: aggressive driving. For both Ada County and the state at large, aggressive driving continues to be an issue.
WHAT IS AGGRESSIVE DRIVING?The Idaho Transportation Department looks at a number of factors when attributing a crash to aggressive driving. These behaviors include failing to yield right of way, failing to obey a stop sign, exceeding the posted speed limit, driving too fast for conditions and following too closely.
According to the department’s 2023 crash report , the three most common factors that led to fatalities or suspected serious injuries were:
Failing to yield right of way — 268Driving too fast for conditions — 191Exceeding the posted speed — 96
Absent from these behaviors is road rage. Distinct from aggressive driving, road rage is defined as a “deliberate and violent act against another driver or individual and is a criminal offense,” Ellen Mattila, ITD public information officer, said in a statement.
CURRENT TRENDSAccording to Mattila, as of Monday, Idaho has seen 125 traffic fatalities in 2024. Aggressive driving has accounted for 26 of those deaths, with speeding being the most common factor.
As of Wednesday, July 24, Idaho State Police reported that Ada County had seen 2,168 crashes resulting from aggressive driving, a number that puts the county on pace to surpass its 2023 aggressive driving crash total of 4,020 crashes, ISP Sgt. DaVien Brokaw said.
These numbers come after the 2023 crash report found that at least 277 people were killed in traffic crashes in the state, making 2023 the deadliest year for traffic crashes since 2003.
ITD attributed 103 of those fatalities to aggressive driving. From 2019 through 2022, aggressive driving fatalities increased by an average of 8.3% each year. From 2022 to 2023, aggressive driving fatalities increased 27.2%, from 81 fatalities to 103.
Though the number of aggressive driving crashes is projected to increase, Mattila stated the percentage of crashes in which aggressive driving was a factor has remained fairly consistent, hovering within two percentage points of 50% since 2019.
“Instead of a growing problem, I would call it a constant problem,” Mattila stated.
COMMON FACTORS IN AGGRESSIVE DRIVING
ISP did not point to any particular demographic as being a common factor in aggressive driving incidents.
“It’s everybody from the youngest drivers to the oldest, man, woman alike,” Brokaw said.
As far as the times of day that ISP generally saw the most traffic-related incidents, Brokaw said the morning and evening commute times as well as times that people are most commonly traveling within and across the state: Thursday evening through the weekend. Traffic can also pick up Sundays as people return from their weekend outings, Brokaw said.
While the time of day could be a contributing factor to all crashes, regional makeup played a significant factor in the frequency and lethality of aggressive driving crashes in particular.
According to the aforementioned ITD report, “74% of all aggressive driving crashes occurred in urban areas, while 61% of fatal aggressive driving crashes occurr(ed) in rural areas.” These crashes were found to have cost Idaho $2.6 billion over the course of the year, making up 44% of the “total costs of Idaho crashes.”
In 2023, drivers under the age of 25 were the largest contingent involved in aggressive driving crashes, accounting for 34% of the drivers involved in all aggressive driving crashes. The next closest contingent was drivers aged 25-34, who accounted for 19.3% of aggressive driving crashes.
Drivers aged 19 or younger were “43.9 times as likely to be involved in aggressive driving crashes,” a far greater likelihood than persons aged 20 to 24, who were 1.9 times as likely as other drivers to be involved in an aggressive driving crash. It should be noted, however, that these ratios compare the involvement to the total number of drivers of a given age, the report said.
LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE
Law enforcement agencies are actively engaged in a “100 Deadliest Days” campaign to heighten patrols on Idaho roads from Memorial Day through Labor Day. According to the ISP website , the title stems from the period historically being the most dangerous time for Idaho drivers due to increased traffic volume.
Last year, ITD reported 7,430 crashes during the 100 Deadliest Days and a total of 79 fatalities.
To minimize risk, law enforcement agencies throughout the state have been partnering to increase patrols targeting aggressive and impaired driving.
Speaking on broader traffic trends, law enforcement agencies cited the continued influx of people moving to Idaho as a factor in the upward trend of crashes in the state.
“You take all these people that come in from different places and with their accepted driving behaviors…you put them all in one place and that creates more crashes,” Brokaw said.
A statement from Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue spoke to a rising need for expanded traffic patrols.
“The increase in population has also put a strain on our patrol division resources, meaning that our response times could be delayed due to the increased number of vehicles on the roads and traffic congestion,” Donahue stated. “That said, CCSO has increased the number of patrol deputies we have on the road in the past year…we have plans to add even more patrol deputies over the next several years in an effort to deal with the increase in population and aggressive driving in our area.”
Responding to aggressive driving, however, does not begin and end with law enforcement.
Idaho State Police emphasized the role that all users of Idaho’s roads can play in keeping travel safer by alerting law enforcement agencies to aggressive driving incidents and always working to avoid confrontation.
“We appreciate people when they call in because a lot of these complaints we can’t find without people telling us,” Brokaw said. “If they do observe or recognize reckless, aggressive driving behavior, please call it in; distance themselves away from the vehicle. We do not encourage or recommend that they mimic that driving behavior and try to follow a vehicle.”
Brokaw said that in the summer months especially, drivers should seek to lower the temperature on the road.
“The best way to put it is be kind and be patient,” Brokaw said. “Everyone has somewhere to get to that’s important to them. We all want to make it there safely, so be kind, be patient, we’ll get there.”
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