CASCADE, ID – A teenage driver from Kuna was flown to a hospital after a chain-reaction crash on State Highway 55 in Valley County shut down traffic in both directions for roughly two and a half hours.
Idaho State Police said the wreck happened Sept. 17 at 2:11 p.m. near milepost 114.2, just outside Cascade. Investigators said the teen was driving a 2005 Honda Accord northbound near milepost 114 when the car crossed into the southbound lane and struck another vehicle.
Police said the crash set off a series of impacts that spread into a nearby parking lot. The teen was wearing a seat belt, according to state police.
How the crash began on SH55 near milepost 114
State police said the Honda Accord driven by the teenage boy crossed the center line while traveling north. It then hit a 2017 Ford F-250 driven by a 68-year-old man from Cottonwood.
That first collision caused the Ford to leave the roadway and enter a parking lot. From there, the chain reaction continued as the truck hit a 2020 Volkswagen Tiguan driven by a 56-year-old man from Highlands Ranch, Colorado.
The Volkswagen was then pushed into a 2020 Ford Explorer driven by a 22-year-old man from Cascade, also in the parking lot. Idaho State Police did not say what caused the teen’s vehicle to cross into the other lane.
Teen driver taken by air ambulance to a local hospital
The teen was transported by air ambulance to a local hospital after the crash. State police did not immediately release information about the severity of his injuries.
Officials did say he was wearing a seat belt. No other injuries were described in the crash information released by Idaho State Police.
The driver ages and hometowns identified by police show that the collision involved people from several communities, including Kuna, Cottonwood, Cascade, and Highlands Ranch. The parking lot where the impacts ended became part of the crash scene after the Ford left the highway.
SH55 closed in both directions for about two and a half hours
Northbound and southbound lanes of State Highway 55 were closed for about two and a half hours after the wreck. The shutdown affected traffic through a stretch of the highway that serves as a key route near Cascade in Valley County.
State police said the closure lasted roughly 2 1/2 hours while crews and investigators worked the scene. No detour details were included in the information released by the agency.
Because the crash involved multiple vehicles and a vehicle that left the roadway, traffic on both sides of SH55 was held until the scene could be cleared and checked by responders.
Multiple agencies responded to the Valley County scene
Idaho State Police said several agencies assisted at the crash scene. Those included the Valley County Sheriff’s Department, Cascade Fire Department, Idaho Transportation Department, Southern Idaho Timber Protective Association, and Air St. Luke’s.
The list points to the scale of the response, which involved law enforcement, fire personnel, transportation workers, and air medical support. Air St. Luke’s handled the medical flight for the teenage driver.
State police did not say whether the other drivers were taken to hospitals or treated at the scene. The agency also did not identify any citations or possible charges in the crash information it released.
What Idaho State Police said about the collision
The crash remains a straightforward traffic investigation based on the facts released by Idaho State Police. The agency said the teen’s Honda crossed into oncoming traffic, setting off the collision chain that involved three other vehicles and ended in a parking lot.
That sequence is important because it shows how quickly a single lane departure can lead to several impacts on a rural highway. Even though the crash was serious enough to close SH55 for hours, police did not indicate that weather, road work, or another external factor played a role.
For now, the most concrete details remain the time, place, vehicles involved, and the response that followed. State police have not said whether the investigation is still active or when any additional information may be released.
