Vehicle rolls but injuries are minor

Members of a family suffered only minor injuries Monday when their vehicle was hit from behind by a semi-trailer on U.S. 2 in the Kila area.

Shawna Schultz was headed toward Kalispell from her new home on Swamp View Lane with three children in the Mazda Navajo. As she drove onto U.S. 2, an eastbound tractor-trailer hit her vehicle from behind, forcing it to leave the highway, roll over and land upright in the parking lot of the Kila Pub.

Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Pat Herman said injuries were minor, including whiplash. All four people in the Mazda were taken by ambulance to Kalispell Regional Medical Center.

“This is how it is all the time. Trucks don’t slow down unless they see a cop parked out here,” said Geraldine Landowski, Schultz’s neighbor who was one of the first on the scene.

Landowski said the family was headed to Kalispell to buy a car seat.

Shawn Schultz, Shawna’s husband, said the family had moved to its Swamp Lane residence from Lakeside just two weeks ago.

“I was at work when my wife called and said she’d been in an accident,” Shawn said. “That’s one of my biggest fears with her and the kids in the car.”

Herman said the truck didn’t appear to be speeding when the collision occurred.

The truck belongs to Western Transport from Sheridan, Wyoming. The driver declined to comment at the scene of the accident.

The Montana Highway Patrol, West Flathead EMS, Evergreen Fire Department, Kalispell Fire Department, Smith Valley Fire Department and Motor Carrier Services Patrol of the Montana Department of Transportation responded to the scene after the accident was called in at 12:20 p.m.

Reporter Seaborn Larson may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at slarson@dailyinterlake.com.