Boise girl’s death should spur changes on busy boulevard | Opinion

The death of an 8-year-old girl who was struck by a pickup truck on Harrison Boulevard is a tragic event that should spur changes on the busy stretch of road.

Harrison Boulevard is unique in Boise. The popular trick-or-treating and walking destination lined with stately mansions is a wide, divided road, with a landscaped median separating two directions of travel.

The speed limit is 25 mph, but drivers too often go much faster than that.

There are no stoplights or stop signs along Harrison Boulevard, save for a pedestrian crossing light at Lemp Street.

That leaves 13 other intersections with little protection for pedestrians. Some, including the Ada Street intersection where the girl was killed, don’t even have marked crosswalks.

The Ada Street intersection is just one block up from where Hays Street turns into Harrison, making a sharp right turn north. Anyone who’s lived in Boise long enough has seen cars flying around that corner.

The driver of the truck that hit and killed the girl Tuesday had an outstanding federal warrant from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which took the driver into custody after hearing from Boise police, who had done a standard records check.

The anti-immigration people are coming out of the woodwork, calling for mass deportations over a car accident, as if we could just deport everyone and there’d be no more fatal vehicle-pedestrian incidents.

What is it the gun people say after yet another mass shooting? “It’s too soon to talk about this.” “Don’t use a tragic event like this to score political points.” “Don’t let emotions determine public policy.”

The fact of the matter is that the driver in this tragedy just as likely could have been a native Idahoan heading home from work or a teenager driving home from school.

And it’s worth noting that this driver, who in all likelihood knew that ICE might come calling, remained at the scene and cooperated. He didn’t try to flee, even though he probably knew big trouble was coming.

But the bottom line remains that Harrison Boulevard — whether being traversed by an undocumented immigrant in a pickup or a U.S. citizen in an SUV — needs improvements for pedestrians to prevent tragedies like this from occurring again.

Marked crosswalks at each intersection, traffic-calming devices such as knuckles and speed bumps, and more intersections with pedestrian signals should all be part of the conversation between the city of Boise and the Ada County Highway District.

Some may think that roads are simply for moving vehicles, but there must be a recognition that pedestrians and bicyclists use and cross the road as well, and their safety can’t be ignored — especially in the busy North End neighborhood that Harrison Boulevard dissects.

No, we can’t prevent every accident, but we can take steps to reduce their likelihood.

May this tragic event spur us to action.

Statesman editorials are the opinion of the Idaho Statesman’s editorial board. Board members are opinion editor Scott McIntosh, opinion writer Bryan Clark, editor Chadd Cripe, newsroom editors Dana Oland and Jim Keyser and community members John Hess, Debbie McCormick and Julie Yamamoto.

This story was originally published November 14, 2025 at 4:00 AM.