Crash pins Kalispell man under van

The Daily Inter Lake

Passenger suffers only minor injuries

A Kalispell man was pinned beneath the front tire of his van for about five minutes after he was ejected from the vehicle in a high-speed collision with a cement mixer Thursday afternoon on U.S. 2.

Employees from nearby Destination RV heard him screaming, "Get if off me, get if off me!" and ran to help. The man's hip and leg were pinned beneath the front tire on the passenger side of the Chevy Astro van. The man had been ejected through the windshield.

Both vehicles were traveling south on U.S. 2 north of Kalispell when they collided, according to the Montana Highway Patrol.

The JTL cement mixer had crossed U.S. 2 and merged into the right southbound lane when the van struck the truck, Patrol officer Erick Fetterhoff ticketed the driver of the van on suspicion of careless driving and both men for failure to wear seat belts.

The employees hauled out a floor jack and hoisted up the van with help from bystanders, according to Scott LeDuc, owner of Destination RV.

The man was in pain and received a lot of attention until the ambulance arrived, LeDuc said. He apparently suffered mostly minor injuries.

The driver, who requested anonymity, had cuts and bruises to his head but remained at the scene waiting for his wife to pick him up.

He said the neither he nor the passenger was wearing a seat belt. "Thank God we're both alive," he said.

Kalispell ambulance and Three River EMS responded to the scene; the ambulance transported the patient to Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

The Evergreen Volunteer Fire Department and the Highway Patrol also responded to the accident.