Do you really have to travel? How you can stay safe on the road during the blizzard

IDAHO FALLS – Idaho State Police is making sure you know what to do to stay safe during the potential for an extreme blizzard on Thursday and Friday.

ISP is partnering with local law enforcement agencies and the Idaho Department of Transportation to ensure they are out in “full force” during the storm that could create extremely dangerous road conditions.

“This one has a big word in it, and it’s called blizzard,” says Capt. Chris Weadick with the Idaho State Police. “We usually don’t usually get blizzard warnings, so this one is on our radar.”

Weadick says the most important thing to do is decide if you really need to be driving during the storm or not.

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“During this storm, one of the biggest things is travel. Ask yourself if you really need to be traveling out in the weather during this period of time,” says Weadick. “If you don’t, limit your travel, reduce your travel, or just simply stay home. Stay off the roadways.”

If you decide you need to travel, remember the roads are slick, the wind is fast, and there are more people on the road than just you.

“A lot of people have been comfortable for the last month or two having nice dry roads, and they have forgotten winter driving habits,” says Weadick. “Slow down, don’t follow so close, and wear seatbelts. We still see a lot of crashes with drivers that aren’t wearing their seatbelts. A lot of that type of stuff is very preventable.”

According to Weadick, the biggest threat with the blizzard will be the wind as the National Weather Service is estimating that Idaho Falls could see winds gusting as high as 55 mph.

“We’re expecting extremely high winds. If we get a couple of inches of snow with 50 mph winds, you’ve got significant drifting issues,” says Weadick. “We could still have significant snow accumulations, but really, the wind is going to be a very big concern.”

All of local law enforcement and the Idaho Transportation Department will be deploying everyone available to make sure the roads are clear and people are as safe as possible during the storm.

“The Idaho Transportation Department is going to be out in full force, trying to keep the roadways clear,” says Weadick. “It is going to be all hands on deck for the Idaho State Police, here in the Idaho Falls area. We are pretty much going to have every trooper available in our ranks working.”

Weadick says local law enforcement will also be patrolling more remote areas and long stretches of road to ensure drivers are using caution.

“The other law enforcement agencies are out doing the same thing. We’ve got a lot of remote highways, a lot of long stretches of road, everybody is going to be out trying to provide the best travel safe roadways out here,” says Weadick. “We’re committed to being out in full force, and trying to help the motoring public.”