The oil fields of Montana’s Bakken Shale have led to many new jobs for the region. But critics of the oil and gas industry say that a culture of maximizing production and minimizing costs has led to unnecessary oil field accidents. The recent death of a 23-year-old roughneck from a crush injury illustrates the problem. The young man had gone…Read More
The injuries that result from a motor vehicle accident can have long-term consequences. But sometimes those injuries take a while to manifest themselves. This is especially true of soft tissue injuries, which are injuries to the ligaments, tendons and muscles. It is not unusual for someone injured in a car accident to report no injuries at the scene, and yet…Read More
The middle of the night can be a dangerous time on Montana roads. Too many drivers are impaired by fatigue or intoxication during those hours. Whether these factors were behind a car accident that killed three young men on Highway 87 in Cascade County recently is not known at this time. But the accident happened sometime around 3 a.m., so…Read More
Montana drivers know that weather conditions at this time of year can be treacherous. Icy roadways and blowing and drifting snow are the cause of many car accidents. A recent pile-up on Interstate 90 in Lockwood is a case in point. Four vehicles were involved in the collision: a passenger car, a minivan, a pickup truck and a Volkswagen bus.…Read More
Sometimes the victims of a motor vehicle accident consider themselves lucky to be alive. But surviving a horrendous auto accident is not always a matter of luck. Foresight, in the form of buckling a seat belt before setting out, has probably saved at least as many lives as luck. Police say three people who were hospitalized but are expected to…Read More
Oil field equipment can be very unforgiving. This fact was borne out recently when yet another life was claimed in an oil field accident. A 22-year-old Kalispell, Montana man died after sustaining injuries to his chest and abdomen on a rig north of Watford City, North Dakota. The accident happened around 1:30 on a weekday afternoon. How it happened is…Read More
A recent two-vehicle crash between a minivan and a U.S. Postal Service truck brought traffic at a Billings intersection to a halt. Fortunately for those involved, this was one car accident that looked a lot more serious than it actually was. Although the minivan ended up on its roof, none of the occupants sustained life-threatening injuries. The accident happened during…Read More
The extraction of oil from the Bakken Formation, which runs under Montana and North Dakota, has brought an economic boom to those regions. But the boom has come with a price, as injured workers and the families of workers killed on the job can attest. The recent death of a 49-year-old Minnesota man in an oil field accident in North…Read More
Some previous posts on this blog have focused on workers injured in the oil fields that have sprung up in Montana and other states in connection with the Bakken Shale oil boom. But the boom has had another unfortunate side effect: the number of truck accident victims in the Bakken region is also on the rise. One North Dakota woman’s…Read More
Aggressive drivers are more than just obnoxious; their behavior behind the wheel is downright dangerous. Recently, a witness reported that a 21-year-old man from Arlee, Montana was driving aggressively just before he was involved in a car accident that killed a woman on Evaro Hill. Worse yet, there is a possibility the man was also distracted: the witness also said…Read More