Crash injures three
This pickup truck that had been hauling a boat wound up straddling the guardrail on Montana 82 Friday evening. The boat came loose from its trailer and ended up farther down the highway due to a collision.
An ambulance heads past a boat that came loose from a pickup truck during a collision at the Montana 82 bridge over the Flathead River on Friday evening.
Three people were being treated for non-life threatening injuries Friday night after a truck hauling a boat collided with two other vehicles on Montana 82 just west of Sportsmen’s Bridge.
The man driving the pickup truck was expected to be booked into jail on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, according to the Montana Highway Patrol.
Trooper Jason Fetterhoff said the westbound Dodge Ram pickup was hauling a trailer and boat just before 5 p.m. when it started to fishtail as it approached the bridge.
The truck traveled into the eastbound lane, narrowly averting a head-on collision with an oncoming Honda passenger vehicle.
Fetterhoff said the trailer hit the Honda, sending the boat and trailer airborne. The trailer landed on a Dodge Avenger traveling behind the Honda, he said.
At that point, the Avenger rear-ended the Honda.
Three people — the man driving the Honda, his wife and teenage daughter — were being treated for injuries at Kalispell Regional Medical Center as of press time. No additional injuries were reported.
Traffic was halted in both directions for two hours while emergency responders cleared the scene. The Bigfork Fire Department provided traffic control. Backups were minimized as fire department personnel stopped vehicles at the intersection of U.S. 93 and rerouted them when possible.
One lane of traffic was reopened as of 7 p.m. The boat still was blocking the westbound lanes and the truck — bearing Alberta license plates — was high-centered on the guardrail with both driver’s-side tires lifted off the ground.
The names of those injured in the crash and the driver of the truck had not been released as of press time.
Reporter Eric Schwartz may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at eschwartz@dailyinterlake.com.