A 16-year-old boy was charged with a DUI early Wednesday after a train hit and demolished a pickup truck he got stuck on railroad tracks in Kuna...There must be something about 16 year old boys and pickup trucks. Three weeks after I got my license, I was driving my parent's truck around the gravel roads in our rural part of the county when the three of us in the cab decided to drive over "Highwalker's Hill" -- a very steep hill on a dirt road that has a very sharp crest. I went over the top of the hill at a much higher speed than was safe, the front two wheels went airborne, and -- the truck being empty -- the loss of friction from the front wheels caused the truck to veer to the left; when the wheels landed, we were at about a 20 degree angle relative to the road, heading towards the ditch. I swerved back and forth all the way down the hill and halfway up the next before I lost it. The truck almost cleared the ditch, but didn't, and did a full roll back onto the road. The frame was twisted, and the wheels were frozen onto the hubs -- we ended up only being able to salvage the rear-view mirror. My parents weren't happy. Luckily for me, alcohol wasn't involved, and no one got seriously injured.
...The pickup, which was thrown about 100 feet by the force of impact from the train, was destroyed.
The boy told investigators he was driving the pickup southbound on Swan Falls Road when he attempted to go around some railroad cars that were blocking the road on one set of tracks.
But the pickup got high-centered on that set of railroad tracks and another set of tracks next to it.
A short time later, the boy heard a train coming from the east on the other set of tracks, so he and his passenger, an 18-year-old man, jumped out of the pickup and ran away before the train hit the truck. No one was injured in the crash, according to reports.
The bottom line: I have sympathy for this poor kid in Kuna, and hope he learns his lesson about drinking and driving, and I'm glad no one was hurt. I also really, really wish someone would have filmed this accident, 'cause the visuals I'm getting from just reading the story are hilarious.
