FLATHEAD COUNTY, Mont. (NMB) – A 32-year-old Deer Lodge man was killed in a two-vehicle crash on Monday afternoon in Flathead County after striking a pickup head-on while attempting to pass in a no-passing zone.
The Montana Highway Patrol reports that the crash occurred at 2:08 PM at mile marker 101 of US 2, when a westbound Chrysler Sebring being driven by the Deer Lodge man failed to properly pass an eastbound Dodge pickup that was pulling a trailer.
The Chrysler convertible was traveling at a high-rate of speed and collided head-on with the pickup.
The Deer Lodge man was not wearing a seatbelt and was pronounced dead at the scene after the vehicle went off the side of the road.
There were three occupants of the pickup, all of which were wearing seatbelts. The driver, a 23-year-old man from Kalispell, and one passenger, a 24-year-old woman from Whitefish, were transported to a local hospital for treatment of injuries.
The other passenger, a four-year-old girl from Whitefish, was not injured.
The pickup and trailer rolled down an embankment.
Excessive speed and drug use are both suspected factors in the crash.
The road was bare and dry.
