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Idaho Transportation
Department
Public Affairs Office
P.O. Box 7129
Boise, ID 83707
208.334.8005
Fax: 208.334.8563
Email


Mourning the losses of
Jim Onthank and Toby Stevens

ITD employees who regularly drive Idaho’s highways as part of their job to ensure safe public travel do so at considerable personal risk. Bad weather... Road hazards... Impatient drivers... Split-second decisions... They are ever-present dangers.

Threats exist even under ideal conditions. Such as those Tuesday.

There was nothing extraordinary about the task Jim Onthank and Toby Stevens set out to accomplish. Early, spring-like conditions enabled them to begin patching potholes on U.S. 95 a little earlier this year than in most. They loaded cold mix asphalt in the back of their six-wheel dump truck and left the maintenance shed for a day of filling holes caused by alternate freezing and thawing.

Routine assignment. All in a day’s work.

They could not have imagined the peril that lay ahead. They could never have predicted that a cement truck would lose a tire and cross, out of control, into their lane.

Today, the army of ITD road warriors is missing two soldiers, and all of Idaho mourns the loss. Jim and Toby were killed in the two-vehicle crash at about 9:18 a.m. (PST) near Slate Creek south of White Bird. There was no warning, no time for evasive action, no escape route.

Their premature deaths are poignant reminders that highway maintenance is accompanied by inherent risks… and that we should never take for granted the importance of those efforts.

Before the onset of winter, ITD Director Dave Ekern acknowledged the challenges maintenance workers face. In a November message to employees, he wrote:

“We can provide the newest equipment and employ the latest in research and technology. But the single most important factor in maintaining the quality of Idaho's highway system – regardless of season or climate – is ITD's maintenance/operations personnel. We live in a high-tech world that provides wonderful tools. But without the operators, those tools would be rendered useless. Our greatest investment is in their hands… their experience… their abilities.”

Tuesday’s tragic crash brought stark reality to the director’s observation.

“We are always concerned by the loss of lives on our highways, but it is especially tragic when we lose members of our own ITD family – employees who dedicate their lives and service to keeping Idaho highways safe,” Ekern wrote following the crash.

“No one is ever prepared for such an event, and I know that I speak for all of us in acknowledging how deeply the loss will be felt throughout the department. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the loved ones of all who were involved in this tragic crash.”

In tribute to Jim and Toby, Ekern instructed that ITD flags flying on their own pole be lowered to half-staff. Memorial arrangements for both employees is under the direction of Blackmer Funeral Home of Grangeville.

First on-the-job losses since 2002 plane crash

The tragic deaths of Jim Onthank and Toby Stevens this week were the first fatalities involving an ITD employee working on Idaho highways since August 2000 when Dennis Taylor was struck in the head by a high-pressure water hose.

During the preceding 40 years, about 18 other ITD employees (records may be incomplete) lost their lives in public service. One victim, Ben Pedigo, sustained a head injury after being thrown from a small backhoe in the same area as Tuesday’s two-vehicle crash – along the Salmon River near Slate Creek, approximately four miles south of White Bird.

Until this week, Jay Morris was the most recent ITD fatality. He died instantly when the state plane he was piloting crashed into the side of a mountain near Atlanta. A state corrections officer and a juvenile passenger also perished in the crash.