CALDWELL -- A truck driver hauling onions escaped injury when his semi truck went off the road and overturned Thursday night.
The crash happened at 10 p.m. on I-84 near milepost 31 in Caldwell.
Idaho State Police Trooper Brandalyn Crapo said the driver was headed east when he went off the right side of the road.
"The driver attempted to bring the semi back on the road but was unable to, drove off the shoulder and tipped the commercial vehicle on its side," she said.
The semi was pulling two trailers and carrying 78,000 pounds of onions, Crapo said.
The truck driver, who was wearing a seatbelt when the vehicle rolled, was able to break out a window and crawl out of the truck before emergency responders arrived. He was evaluated at the scene, but did not need medical care.
Eastbound lanes were blocked until about 12:30 a.m. as crews worked to right the tipped truck and clean up the spilled onions.
"While it did spill, a lot of them stayed in the packages, so it's good there - there's not a lot of spilled onions," Crapo said.
She credited the driver's seatbelt with saving him from being seriously hurt or even killed in the crash.
"He's extremely lucky, but I would say the safety restraint played a huge role in that tonight," she said.
