Number Of Fatalities Down In Highway Patrol District

Eastern Montana has been very fortunate so far this year on the highways.

As of last week, there has been only one fatality in the Glendive district, according to the Montana Highway Patrol. The Glendive district includes the counties of Roosevelt, Valley, Daniels, Sheridan, Garfield, McCone, Richland, Dawson, Prairie, Rosebud, Custer, Wibaux, Fallon, Carter and Powder River.

The single fatality, which occurred near Miles City, compares to 10 fatalities at this time in 2022 and four on this date in 2021.

“We’ve been pretty fortunate that we’ve had just that one fatality in the district,” Sgt. Jeff Kent of Wolf Point said.

Everybody knocks on wood that the trend continues throughout the entire year and for years to come.

“It’s a good change, but we’ve gone to a lot of crashes and a lot of DUI crashes,” Kent said. “We are just fortunate that people are surviving.”

Through June 12, there have been 62 fatalities in Montana. There were 65 on the date in 2022 and 92 in 2021.

The districts with the highest number of fatalities are Billings with 15, Missoula with 12 and Kalispell with 12. The Havre district also has only one reported fatality to tie with Glendive for the lowest amount.

Of the 62 deaths on Montana’s roads, 62.9 percent were one-vehicle crashes. Speed was suspected in 53.23 of the crashes and seat belts were not used in 51.61 percent of the incidents.

Alcohol was suspected in 38.71 percent of the fatalities and drugs were suspected in 11.29 percent of the crashes.

Of the fatalities, 51.61 percent happened during daylight hours and 35.48 percent on other than dry roads.

Commercial vehicles were involved in 17.74 percent of the crashes, motorcycles were involved in 9.68 percent and pedestrians were involved in 9.68 percent.