Two cars were totaled in a car accident that injured three people on Billings’ West End recently. A 19-year-old driver who hails from Glendive is reportedly to blame for the incident. The teen sped through a stop sign near the intersection of 48th Street West and Neibauer Road.
The young man, who was reportedly driving a GMC Jimmy SUV, crashed into a Ford F450 pickup truck after running through the stop sign. The driver of that vehicle was a 29-year-old Yellowstone County resident, who was in the vehicle with his 28-year-old wife. The F450 was headed west on Neibauer, according to initial investigation reports.
Witnesses who were not involved in the accident said that the younger driver flew through the stop sign at a high rate of speed. They were not sure whether he simply did not see the sign or chose to disregard it.
Both of the F450 occupants were transported to Billings Clinic after the accident, and the other driver was taken to St. Vincent Healthcare for treatment. The driver of the F450 was the most seriously injured among the three, but the physician team treating him would not release information about his status. The woman was released from the hospital shortly after arriving, and there has been no word about the younger man’s condition.
Authorities said the use of alcohol or drugs was not involved in the crash. The conclusions of the crash investigation will be important as the injured parties assess their rights under state law in terms of seeking compensation for their injuries.
Source: Billings Gazette, “3 injured in 2-car collision on West End,” staff reports, July 2, 2012