Passenger critical after U.S. 2 crash accident

A Troy woman is in stable condition and her passenger in critical condition after a vehicle accident Thursday night west of Kalispell.

The driver and passenger Kerry Bowers, 48, were in a vehicle on U.S. 2 at mile marker 94 west of Marion around 10 p.m. when the vehicle went off the road and flipped.

Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Laramie Stefani said the driver must have lost control due to weather conditions when temperatures dropped and wet roads became icy.

Bowers was flown by helicopter to Kalispell Regional Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, Stefani said. The driver was transported by ambulance to Kalispell Regional with minor injuries. Neither were wearing seat belts.

Bowers is a contract newspaper carrier for The Daily Inter Lake.

Daily Inter Lake Circulation Director Brant Horn and Home Delivery Manager Mike Fugina became concerned when Bowers didn’t show up to work.

When they learned of Bowers’ accident, Horn delivered her route and said he almost went into a ditch,  too, his vehicle slipping on black ice along the same stretch of road that Bowers’ accident occurred.

Friday afternoon, Horn and Fugina were uncertain of Bowers’ condition but learned she was in the intensive care unit at the hospital.

Horn said Bowers drives approximately 260 miles on her delivery route from Marion to Troy — rain, snow or shine. With that much time spent on the road in Northwest Montana, “conditions can take you by surprise,” Horn said.

On Thursday, carriers delivered 34,000 Thanksgiving special edition papers.

The Montana Highway Patrol also received a report of an earlier vehicle accident with no injuries at 9:18 p.m. Thursday on U.S. 2 at mile maker 95.