Teen killed, two injured in crash outside Wilsall

BILLINGS — A Park County teen was killed and two others injured in a rollover crash over the weekend. The three were traveling on a rural road Oct. 6 just outside of the small town of Wilsall, according to preliminary details released by Montana Highway Patrol.

Speeding is suspected to have been a factor in the crash. The three boys from Clyde Park were driving north in a Ford Expedition on Elk Creek Road. A 17-year-old was at the wheel, and the two other teens traveling with him were 17 and 15.



When the SUV came to a corner, per MHP, it started to slide on the dirt road. The driver overcorrected, and the vehicle went off the right side of the road. It overturned twice before coming to a stop.

None of the teens were wearing seat belts, according to MHP. The force of the crash ejected the two passengers, who were taken to the hospital. Emergency crews pronounced the driver dead at the scene.

Last month, an 18-year-old Belgrade woman was killed when the vehicle she was traveling in went off the road in Bozeman. The vehicle's driver, a 17-year-old boy, apparently failed to round a curve and the vehicle struck a guardrail, according to MHP. Fatal crashes in Montana consistently involved single-vehicle wrecks.

As of late September of this year, MHP has recorded 152 deaths on Montana's roads. About 43% of those deaths have been attributed to travelers not wearing their seat belts..