A Hamilton man is dead following a three vehicle collision near Victor that occurred on Friday morning.

The Montana Highway Patrol is currently investigating, and KGVO has contacted the trooper in charge, however the Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed that the accident occurred at 10:40 a.m. at the intersection of U.S. Highway 93 and Tucker Crossing. A Hamilton man was killed in the crash, and a second male driver is being transported to a hospital in Missoula due to the severity of his injuries. The third driver, a female, received minor injuries including cuts from broken glass.

Meanwhile, the arrival of winter weather in western Montana has led to dozens of crashes and slide-offs, including a semi-truck that jackknifed at an intersection in Lolo.

Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Andrew Novak said drivers were mostly going too fast for the winter conditions.

“There were quite a few slide-offs and single vehicle crashes, in addition to people crashing into guardrails, concrete dividers and other vehicles,” said Novak. “The simple fact is that people are going too fast for the conditions. With snow on the roads in order for a person to maintain control a person has to adjust their speed and not make any sudden steering or braking actions.”

Novak reiterated a favorite phrase among Montana Highway Patrolmen, ‘four-wheel drive does not mean four-wheel stop’.

“My patrol vehicle is a four-wheel drive and it really helps at low speeds, but at normal highway speeds having four-wheel drive doesn’t change the amount of traction that a vehicle has when it comes to negotiating a curve or braking,” he said. “Due to the loss of traction, folks lose control and get into a crash. Four-wheel drive is great when you need to go forward or backward at slow speeds, but it doesn’t change anything when you’re negotiating a curve or trying to come to a stop.”

Novak said when the weather turns bad, if you don’t need to travel, stay home.

“If you do have to travel, we simply ask that you allow extra time to get where you’re going,” he said. “Slow down and take it easy around curves and approaching intersections, and above all, remember to move over to the other lane and slow down when  you’re approaching emergency vehicles on the shoulder.”

With that in mind...KGVO presents the compelling video of an incident that occurred near Frenchtown in 2014. PLEASE WATCH!!

 

 

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