Motorcyclist collides with tractor-trailer

A Pablo man was in critical condition at Kalispell Regional Medical Center late Thursday after the motorcycle he was riding crashed head-on into a tractor-trailer going the opposite direction.

David McClure, 27, collided with the tractor-trailer Thursday morning on U.S. 93 near mile marker 72, just south of Big Arm.

Troopers know the crash occurred exactly at 7:05 a.m., because that's when radio station KERR went off air, said Montana Highway Patrol trooper Mike Gehl. After hitting the motorcycle, the tractor-trailer went careening off the highway and smashed through the utility tower with the radio station's antenna, forcing it into silence, he said.

McClure is "really lucky" he's even alive, said Gehl, who is investigating the accident. In fact, the accident was so serious that troopers on the scene started processing it as if it were already a fatality, he said.

But McClure went into surgery and eventually stabilized, he said.

According to reports, the motorcycle, a Harley-Davidson, was traveling north on U.S. 93 when it overtook a pickup pulling a horse trailer. As the motorcycle came up behind the pickup truck and horse trailer, McClure attempted to pass in a no passing zone.

The motorcycle pulled out into the oncoming lane of traffic and was almost immediately hit by an oncoming tractor-trailer traveling south from Kalispell with a full load of Corona beer.

The tractor-trailer never had a chance to avoid the motorcycle, and the two collided head-on, Gehl said.

The collision took place so soon after the motorcycle pulled out into the oncoming lane of traffic that the driver of the pickup pulling the horse trailer never even saw it. But he heard it, and stopped to offer help, Gehl said.

After the crash, the motorcycle spun across the roadway and burst into flames. The impact broke the front axle on the tractor-trailer, which veered across the northbound lane of traffic and rolled over in the ditch.

The motorcycle rider was lucid and talking after the crash, but also critically injured, Gehl said.

He was transported by helicopter to Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

The driver of the tractor-trailer suffered minor injuries and refused medical attention at the scene. He was later transported to Saint Joseph Hospital in Polson.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com