Crashes happen within 2 minutes along U.S. 2

Two vehicle accidents occurred within two minutes of each other on U.S. 2 Wednesday morning. 

Around 7:30 a.m. an 18-year-old Kalispell man driving a GMC pickup northbound was turning left on West Reserve Road. According to Montana Highway Patrol Trooper David Mills, the driver thought he had enough time to turn in front of an oncoming vehicle, but was T-boned by a 44-year-old Columbia Falls man in a Toyota SUV. 

No one was injured in the accident. 

Both drivers were wearing their seat belts. The 18-year-old driver received a citation for failure to yield. 

Two minutes later and 50 yards south of the first accident, a 45-year-old Columbia Falls woman driving a Ford Taurus southbound on U.S. 2 was distracted by the scene of the initial crash and decided to turn around. She made a U turn and hit a 36-year-old Kalispell woman in a Dodge Ram head-on, according to Montana Highway Patrol Trooper John Underwood. 

Both drivers in the second accident also were wearing seat belts and were not injured. 

All four vehicles involved had to be towed; both southbound lanes were closed for about 45 minutes. 

“In the secondary crash, the factor was that the driver was distracted by the first crash,” Underwood said. “She was likely paying so much attention to what was going on with all of the flashing lights that she wasn’t paying attention to what was going on around them.” 

Troopers also responded to a two-vehicle accident near Kila and a vehicle that hit a deer on Montana 82 around the same time Wednesday morning. The Kila crash was attributed to icy road conditions. 

Late Wednesday afternoon there was a one-vehicle rollover crash on Montana 83.

“We were so busy,” Mills said.