Seatbelts keep couple safe in rollover accident
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Karren and Patrick McKinzie were traveling from Kalispell to Missoula on June 11, when coming over Jette Hill on U.S. Highway 93, a vehicle suddenly pulled into their lane to turn left — and stopped. Pat, who was driving, had to make a snap decision to avoid hitting the vehicle dead-on at 65 miles per hour.
He avoided hitting the truck by quickly veering around to the right, on the shoulder side of the highway. As he was about to steer back into his lane, one of the rear tires caught the gravel, sending the vehicle into a skid and then a roll as it struck the ditch.
Highway patrolman Aaron Day, who responded to the accident, described the rolls as “violent,” as shown by how far the car traveled during the multiple rolls. The force in such a rollover accident is the weight of the car times the miles per hour, in this case, at least 200,000 pounds of force, which explains the distance traveled by the vehicle during the accident.
Because that formula (weight times speed) applies to everything inside the vehicle, too, all of their luggage and most everything else that was inside flew out the back window upon first impact.
What was able to remain inside the vehicle given such force? Karren and Patrick remained inside the safety cage of the vehicle because they had their seatbelts on.
Besides the McKinzies, a flashlight was the only item that remained inside the car. The seat belts kept them from being ejected.
The Saved by the Belt Award was presented to the McKinzies by Highway Patrolman Aaron Day and Diana Schwab, Lake County’s Buckle Up Coordinator, on Aug. 13 in front of the Flathead City County Health Department.
Trooper Day nominated the couple for the award upon responding to the accident, seeing that they both had their seatbelts on and realizing that was what saved their lives.
Sponsors of the award include the Montana Department of Transportation, AAA, the Montana Sheriff’s and Peace Officers Association, the Montana Highway Patrol and Safe Kids, Montana.
