With winter quickly approaching, the Montana Highway Patrol decided to release an accident awareness video to promote safe driving practices.
The goal of the video was to highlight the challenging road conditions caused by winter storms, and remind drivers to exercise caution when driving in such conditions.
In order to better get their message across, the MHP included footage from a series of crashes that occurred during a blizzard on December 28th, 2014 near Missoula.
The video description included the following backstory of the incident:
Here is a backstory behind the video: MHP Trooper Wade Palmer and Cadet (now Trooper) Timothy Templeton arrived at the scene of a crash involving a mother and her two small children. Conditions were hazardous as the crash occurred during a blizzard. The dash-cam footage captures a series of subsequent collisions occurring after the initial crash that disabled the family’s vehicle.
In the first subsequent collision, a semi-truck hits the passenger vehicle parked on the shoulder of the road, causing the mother to be ejected from the vehicle. She landed in the highway median. Trooper Palmer located the victim in the median and rendered aid.
While that was happening, Cadet Templeton saw an out-of-control truck and trailer headed directly toward Trooper Palmer and the victim. Templeton shouted a warning and Trooper Palmer was able to pull himself and the victim to safety within seconds, thereby saving his life and that of the mother.
Thankfully, everyone survived. The mother and her two children are on the road to recovery.
In the video, the Montana Highway Patrol urges travelers to maintain a safe speed and following distance, and have patience when driving during inclement winter weather.