State to dedicate highways to troopers

State officials today will dedicate portions of area highways to three Montana Highway Patrol troopers killed in recent traffic crashes in the line of duty.

Troopers David Graham, Evan Schneider, and Mike Haynes died in an 18-month period between October 2007 and March 2009.

The ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. today on U.S. 2 near the entrance to Glacier Park International Airport and will be attended by Gov. Brian Schweitzer, Montana Department of Transportation Director Jim Lynch and Montana Highway Patrol commander Col. Mike Tooley.

Graham, 36, was killed while performing routine traffic control after his squad car was struck head-on by the inattentive driver of a pickup truck that crossed the center turn lane on U.S. 2.

Graham, who joined the Highway Patrol in August 2006, was survived by a wife and three young children.

Schneider, 29, was killed in a crash on U.S. 2 near Bad Rock Canyon. He was following another vehicle when it sideswiped a half-ton GMC pickup truck, forcing its driver to lose control and collide head-on with Schneider's marked patrol car after the pickup crossed into the oncoming lane. Alcohol was involved in the crash.

A former U.S. Marine, Schneider was remembered at his funeral as an avid collector of coins and Ford automobiles.

Haynes, 28, died from injuries suffered in a crash with a drunken driver.

He was southbound on U.S. 93 north of Somers when a car traveling northbound in the southbound lanes struck his marked cruiser head-on.

Family, friends, and co-workers remembered Haynes as a kind, loving, energetic and thoughtful man dedicated to his Christian faith.

The deaths have raised debate about Montana's DUI laws.