Idaho School Found Liable in Driver Education Class Death

A Blaine County jury has awarded $3.5 million in damages to the family of a 15-year-old Carey boy who died in a crash during his driver’s education class.

The Idaho Mountain Express reported jurors deliberated for about 90 minutes before finding Carey School driver education instructor Jeffrey Meacham 100 percent responsible for the Oct. 26, 2010 crash that killed Austin Hennefer.

Dennis and Maryann Hennefer filed a lawsuit alleging Meacham’s decision to hold classes that day and practice three-point turns on an icy highway were “willful and reckless.”

The driver’s education car was struck by an oncoming car.

School District Business Manager Mike Chatterton says the district’s insurance carrier is responsible for paying the damages and that there is no deductible.