Four hurt in highway crash
Tow-truck employees work to pull one of the vehicles involved in a four-car crash on Montana 35 out of a ditch Thursday morning. The full-sized Ford pickup was pulling a salvaged vehicle, another full-sized pickup, on a flatbed trailer when the Ford veered into oncoming traffic to avoid a collision but rear-ended a Chevrolet Tahoe. The Tahoe was then struck broadside by a red Dodge Durango, background, traveling in the opposite direction. Four people were injured, including two children. Allison Money/Daily Inter Lake
The Daily Inter Lake
Four people were injured Thursday morning in a four-vehicle crash on Montana 35 near McWenneger Slough in Creston.
Two children - a 7-year-old girl airlifted to Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane and a 3-year-old boy now in the intensive care unit at Kalispell Regional Medical Center - suffered serious injuries in the wreck.
According to the Montana Highway Patrol, a 40-year-old Columbia Falls woman with the two children in her Chevrolet Tahoe was westbound on Montana 35 about 8:20 a.m. Thursday when she slowed to turn left on Montford Road.
The woman, who used her turn signal, was followed by a Toyota Tundra and a full-sized Ford pickup hauling a full-sized pickup on a trailer.
The 54-year-old driver of the Ford pickup realized he wasn't going to stop in time and swerved into the oncoming lane of traffic, sideswiping the Toyota pickup and rear-ending the Columbia Falls woman's Tahoe - the first vehicle in line - as she turned.
A fourth car, an eastbound Dodge Durango, then struck the woman's sport-utility vehicle broadside, according to Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Dustin LeRette.
The Ford pickup, carried by its momentum, continued with its trailer into a field on the south side of the highway. Neither the driver, a Kalispell man, nor his woman passenger were injured.
He veered into the oncoming lane to avoid colliding with the guardrail on his right or rear-ending the Toyota Tundra immediately in front of him, LeRette said.
The driver of the Toyota Tundra and his passenger were not injured.
The woman driving the Tahoe suffered minor injuries and was taken to Kalispell Regional Medical Center. Her children suffered more serious trauma.
The 19-year-old driver of the Durango was taken to Kalispell Regional Medical Center with a severely broken leg.
Neither alcohol or excessive speeds appear to be factors in the crash, LeRette said.
Investigative reports will be forwarded to the Flathead County Attorney's Office for possible charges.
The Montana Highway Patrol, Flathead County Sheriff's Office, Creston Fire Department, Evergreen Fire Department and Kalispell Fire Department responded. The accident blocked Montana 35 for some time.