Driver, horse die in crash

The Daily Inter Lake

A Columbia Falls man was killed Friday morning when his car hit a horse on West Reserve Drive in Kalispell.

John D. McCarty, 50, was westbound on West Reserve just east of the Whitefish River bridge at about 5:35 a.m. when his 1990 Oldsmobile Diplomat collided with one of five escaped horses running across the road, according to Montana Highway Patrol trooper Erick Fetterhoff.

McCarty reportedly was on his way to work at Semitool Inc.

The impact flipped the horse, which also died, onto the four-door sedan's hood and then over the roof.

"It tore the roof off the car like it was a can of sardines," Fetterhoff said.

McCarty, who suffered major head and neck trauma, died on impact or shortly after the crash. Crews had to use the Jaws of Life to extricate his body from the crumpled wreckage.

McCarty was taken to Kalispell Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. He was the sole occupant of the car.

The horses had escaped from a nearby corral, pushing the gate open to reach some feed sitting outside their reach, Fetterhoff said.

McCarty's death is the second traffic-related fatality of 2008 in Flathead County. In 2007, 26 people died in traffic crashes on Flathead County roads.