Injured by flying debris, Flathead Valley man calls for tougher enforcement of unsecured loads

On a late March morning, Gary Gilham drove a truck loaded with tables, couches and chairs back to Kalispell, a routine trip for the 15-year furniture store employee.  

Heading west on Montana 35 about 11:20 a.m., March 28, Gilham spotted a large truck with a trailer hauling what looked like trash headed in his direction. But his attention turned, suddenly, to what looked like drywall or cardboard vaulting out of the trailer.  

He heard a thud and looked up to see a hole in his windshield. Then he felt blood pouring from the left side of his face.  

It all happened in an instant.  

A loose, large magnet — trash off the truck that passed him — had broken through his windshield, shattering Gilham’s cheek, fracturing his orbital socket and jaw, impacting his eyesight in his left eye and splitting open his nose. Confused and in shock, he felt no pain at first. 

His right eye also suffered a scratch on the cornea, discovered during a second emergency room visit after surgery. 

“I’ve always said secure your load because stuff like this could happen to anybody,” Gilham said, two weeks after his surgery. “... And I don’t think the guy whose truck it was has any idea what happened to me.”  

The accident ended up costing Gilham, his wife Wanda and his company, since the accident happened while he was at work, upwards of $50,000. 

IN MONTANA, a person operating a vehicle with a load must secure the load “sufficiently to prevent littering or creating an obstruction dangerous to the public traveling on the highway,” according to Montana Code Annotated.  

While there are a few exemptions, the law states that failure to comply is punishable with a misdemeanor. 

Every year, around 730 people are killed and 17,000 more are injured because of objects in roadways, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 

Of those crashes, 81% involve unsecured loads traveling on vehicles, according to the agency’s statistics. 

“I’ve seen garbage fly off of vehicles before and it’s always upset me, but people need to realize how easy it is for things to take flight,” Gilham said, pointing to a stitched-up scar running down his nose and cheek. 

A 2017 pamphlet issued by the Montana Highway Patrol urged motorists to drive as if “everyone you love is driving in the car behind you.” 

In 2024, the Montana Highway Patrol issued 28 citations for drivers traveling with unsecured loads. The penalty is $85 but can differ in municipalities, according to Capt. Shawn Silver, a public information officer with the state agency.  

“A big part of this is also education,” Silver said. “We simply will talk about best ways to secure a load ... We help people understand why we don’t want it to happen again. It could really hurt someone; it could cause a big hazard.” 

Citations are typically issued in more serious cases or in motor vehicle wrecks.  

“The Legislature creates the laws,” Silver said. “So, they obviously saw a need for this. Sometimes education is not always the most appropriate avenue so sometimes we need laws to help.” 

UNSECURED LOADS also degrade natural landscapes. It’s easy to see the pervasiveness of trash on the side of the road, Flathead County Public Works Director Dave Prunty said. It’s more visible in the spring when the snow melts and the buildup of trash is exposed. 

“It has been a concern of the solid waste districts for many years,” Prunty said. “You just look at the roadways and you can see we’re not doing a great job.” 

In the last six to eight years, the county has had to put $50,000 toward clean-up services each spring, Prunty estimated.  

“It took $50,000 of taxpayer money that we wouldn’t have to spend if people would just secure their load,” he said. “... That money could go to a much better spot if people would have personal responsibility.”  

“This is 99.5% personal responsibility, that’s how this is controlled,” Prunty added. “You secure your load before you travel down the road.” 

Prunty applauded the efforts by Montana Highway Patrol and Flathead County Sheriff’s Office but acknowledged that it’s hard to write tickets for driving with unsecured loads amid other priorities. 

“They have done as good a job as they can do while also chasing the bad guys and gals in our county now with the crime that we’re seeing,” he said.  

But others believe there needs to be more enforcement and accountability. 

Gilham’s company is planning to purchase cameras to monitor the roads for when issues like this occur. Gilham also suggested law enforcement could monitor cameras at dump sites and other locations where people often travel with unsecured loads.  

“That magnet hit my windshield at probably 100 miles an hour,” Gilham said. “It barely missed my eye. Secure your loads — it may be the law but it isn’t enforced enough. People need to do it.”  

Reporter Kate Heston may be reached at 758-4459 or kheston@dailyinterlake.com.