Roundabout dedicated to girl killed at intersection
Karen Nichols/Daily Inter Lake<br>Marlene Fifield embraces her friends, Mary Noble and Josie Carou Monday afternoon in front of the new roundabout at the intersection of West Reserve Drive and Stillwater Road. Fifield’s daughter, Allison, was killed at the intersection nearly three years ago when a loaded dump truck did not stop at a sign and crashed into her car. On Monday, state officials dedicated the roundabout in memory of Allison Fifield.
By NICHOLAS LEDDEN
The Daily Inter Lake
Even as family and friends gathered Monday at the intersection of West Reserve Drive and Stillwater Road to dedicate the roundabout recently constructed there to the memory of 16-year-old Allison Fifield, dump trucks similar to the one that ran a stop sign and took her life regularly lumbered past.
The noise from their engines sometimes drowned out those speaking at the dedication, which included remarks by Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Montana Director of Transportation Jim Lynch.
Held one week short of the third anniversary of her death, Fifield's father concluded the ceremony by unveiling one of four signs dedicating the roundabout to her memory. Underneath was a second sign with a plea to please drive safely.
"It works, and that's the important thing," said Allison's mother, Marlene Fifield, in reference to the roundabout. "No one else has been killed here, and the traffic has increased, so that says something in itself."
After the accident, and in an effort to get truckers to drive more safely, Marlene said she would sit at the intersection with a cell phone and call the drivers of trucks blowing through the stop signs posted on Stillwater Drive.
The Fifields were eventually successful in getting a four-way stop sign installed at the intersection. Then after a trip to Europe, Allison's father recommended the Department of Transportation consider constructing a roundabout to improve traffic safety.
"This does slow people down," Paul Fifield said. "I'm real happy on how the DOT responded to us."
In his address, Schweitzer said he hoped that dedicating the roundabout would remind people about the sometimes unforeseen dangers on the road.
"If she saves a life - or two, or five, or 20 - we'll never know," said Schweitzer. "But she will … be a lasting reminder to drivers and families for years to come."
Fifield was killed on the morning of June 23, 2005 when her Subaru Legacy was hit broadside by a loaded dump truck driven by 54-year-old Andrew Johnson.
She died at the scene.
Witnesses said Johnson seemed to be speeding as he approached the intersection and did not appear to brake or slow down.
Johnson told authorities running the stop sign at that intersection was common practice for truckers wishing to save wear on their vehicles.
According to police who investigated the crash, Johnson's truck was not current on mandatory annual inspections and would have failed a brake inspection. Johnson was not injured in the collision.
After the crash, Flathead County prosecutors charged Johnson with one count of criminal endangerment, a felony. He pleaded guilty to that charge in September 2005 and was sentenced to 30 days in the Flathead County Detention Center, given 10 years of probation, and ordered to pay more than $20,000 in restitution.
There have been no serious crashes at the intersection of West Reserve Drive and Stillwater Road since the roundabout was completed about a year ago, said Kalispell Police Chief Roger Nasset.
The roundabout is the first completed by the Montana Department of Transportation. Roundabouts - with their slower speeds and fewer conflict points - typically result in a 76 percent reduction in injury accidents, a 90 percent reduction in fatalities, and a 40 percent reduction in pedestrian injuries, according to the Federal Highway Administration.
Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com