Valley County Crash Comes on Heels of Deadly Four Days in NE MT

A single vehicle rollover occurred on the evening of Monday, Aug. 19, in northern Valley County. According to reports from the Montana Highway Patrol, the driver was traveling on Highway 24 near mile marker 12 when they drifted off the road. Sgt. Jeff Kent, the supervisor for the Montana Highway Patrol in Wolf Point, said the driver then over corrected four separate times before the vehicle overturned and rolled multiple times.

The driver of the vehicle was ejected and suffered multiple injuries. Other reports say the driver was flown to Billings for treatment. The crash is being investigated by Trooper David Moon and is still under investigation, however, Sgt. Kent did state that charges are pending in the crash.

That crash followed a series of deadly crashes that occurred between Aug. 16 and Aug. 19 in northeastern Montana. The first was another single-vehicle rollover that killed two and critically injured one along BIA Route 1, west of Fort Kipp, on Aug. 16 in the early afternoon. According to Kent, the SUV traveled off the road, rolled multiple times and caught fire. All three occupants were ejected from the car. The MHP supervisor said that speed and alcohol were factors in the crash.

In the late afternoon hours of Aug. 17, a separate fatal crash occurred again involving a single-vehicle rollover that killed the driver. Again along BIA Route 1, this time east of Poplar, the car was traveling eastbound when it traveled off the south side of the road for nearly 400 feet before striking a culvert and going airborne for 187 feet. When the vehicle landed it then rolled multiple times. The 22-year-old driver was ejected and pronounced dead on the scene. Again alcohol and speed were contributors in the crash, according to Kent.

Also on Aug. 17, in the early evening hours a second fatal crash occurred between a semi and train west of Bainville. That crash occurred when the semi was crossing an unguarded train crossing that had no signal lights. The truck was southbound on a country road when it was hit on the passenger side by an eastbound freight train. Both the driver and a passenger in the semi truck were killed. Sgt. Kent stated that in this case speed and alcohol did not appear to be factors in the crash and the cause is still being investigated.

On Aug. 19, at 5 a.m. another single-vehicle rollover killed the driver of a car on MT Highway 25 east of Wolf Point. According to MHP, a van traveling westbound veered off the north side of the road, over corrected and rolled multiple times. The driver was restrained in the vehicle but pronounced dead at the scene. Speed and alcohol did not appear to be factors in the crash and it is still under investigation.

The series of crashes marked one of the deadliest four day periods in Sgt. Kent’s working memory on the Hi-Line.

“I’ve been stationed here as a trooper and a supervisor for 20 years,” stated the MHP Sgt., “It’s normal to have a few in a year but this was unusual to have that many in such a short period.” Kent added that no huge event caused the increase like a concert, fair or other large gathering and none of the crashes were linked to common conditions other than the few linked to alcohol consumption.

To date in 2019 the eastern region of Montana, known as District 5, for the Highway Patrol has seen only 14 total traffic fatalities on the year. The region covers Miles City, Glendive, Sidney and the Hi-Line from the North Dakota border to Glasgow. Meaning that nearly half of those fatalities occurred in the single 96-hour period.

Sgt. Kent stated that single-vehicle rollovers were among the most common crashes investigated by the Montana Highway Patrol statewide. Often times the crashes are attributed to impaired driving, distracted or drowsy driving or high speeds. The fatalities are often linked to not wearing a seat belt.

So far in 2019 the state has experienced 122 total highway fatalities up from the 111 that had occurred by this same time in 2018, but still down from 2017’s number of 129. Sgt. Kent said that MHP is an active participant in the Montana Department of Transportation’s vision of reaching zero highway fatalities in Montana.

The MHP supervisor stated that the bulk of what they are doing on the road is enforcing the law to make the highways safer and encourage people to “make good decisions.”

“Statewide, we strictly enforce the seatbelt laws as statistics show that wearing one properly, greatly increases your chances of surviving a crash, and decreases your chances of injury,” stated Kent. “Unfortunately, there are certain crashes which are simply un-survivable. Making good decisions while behind the wheel are also crucial.”