Car Accidents in Belgrade

With over 10,000 inhabitants, Belgrade is the most heavily populated Montana city that isn’t a county seat.

Aside from our residents who live here year-round, our city sees a decent influx of visitors due to our city’s close proximity just a few miles southwest of the Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport, which saw an astounding 2.26 million passengers pass through it in 2022 alone.

Unfortunately, the combination of those who live here and the influx of visitors our area receives means that car accidents in Belgrade happen. Below, we’ll discuss different types of motorists and the different types of dangerous driving habits they employ that result in wrecks.

Whether these drivers and their behaviors are to blame for your crash or another factor, contact us if that accident caused you to suffer serious injuries or a family member to, unfortunately, lose their life so we can discuss your legal options with you. That initial case review with an attorney from our law office, Western Justice Associates, PLLC, doesn’t cost you at all.

Dangerous Drivers Often Encountered in Gallatin County

Like any other city or county, the ones you find in ours are no different. You have a little bit of everything. Certain motorists are prone to causing crashes more than others, including the following:

• Inexperienced motorists, such as teens
• Drowsy or fatigued drivers
• Those who are running late to work, to catch a flight, etc., (and tailgate because they are)
• Intoxicated drivers, including those under the influence of prescription or illicit drugs or alcohol
• Someone who fails to properly maintain their vehicle, like their brakes
• Distracted drivers, such as ones who text while operating their vehicles
• Speeding motorists
• Elderly drivers, who might not be as reactive as they once were

When Crashes Occur in Montana

There are a few details you should know about why auto wrecks occur, including:

Accidents Often Happen Close to Home

While many people tend to assume that the bulk of collisions occur on highways and interstates, where speeds tend to be the highest, that’s not necessarily the case. Car accidents in Belgrade often occur on other surface streets outside of these.

That fact seems to coincide with data previously published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which suggested that more than half of all accidents occur on roads where motorists are within 25 miles of their residence and traveling at less than 40 MPH.

Other data suggests that drivers are most vulnerable to getting involved in crashes when they’re approximately five miles from home.

Wet Roads Are a Main Cause of Wrecks

According to the Federal Highway Administration, a wide range of weather factors that affect us here in Montana, including wind speed, precipitation, fog, and pavement conditions, all increase motorists’ accident risks.

That same federal agency determined that, during a 10-year time frame from 2007-2016, wet pavement caused 860,286 crashes, which resulted in 324,394 injuries and 4,050 deaths. Snow/sleet, snow/slushy pavement, and ice were collectively found to be responsible for an estimated 562,501 collisions, which resulted in 138,735 injuries and 1,705 fatalities. It’s likely that at least some of these, unfortunately, occurred right here in Belgrade or greater Gallatin County.

Times Wrecks Most Commonly Occur

In discussing when crashes occur, we’ve highlighted the types of roadways and road conditions where they’re most apt to occur. The National Safety Council has compiled data for times of the day when car accidents have the strongest likelihood of occurring too, which include:

• Nonfatal crashes: Are highest on weekdays, reaching their peak on Fridays
• Fatal collisions: Happen most often on weekends, with the highest number occurring on Saturdays

Researchers contend that peak times for crashes tend to be between 4 and 7:59 p.m. (during evening hours), but note this can widely vary depending on the time of the year.

For example, the window previously mentioned most accurately describes when fatal crashes occur, specifically from November to March. That time frame for deadly accidents shifts to between 8 p.m. and 11:59 p.m. during the spring and summer.

As an interesting indicator, during the summer in particular, the risk of someone having an accident with injuries is most likely between noon and 3:59 p.m. Circling back to our discussion about dangerous drivers, one reason this might be the case is that there’s an uptick of teen motorists on the road during these months when they’re out of school.

Finding Help in Navigating the Claims Process After a Collision

You read above about dangerous drivers and learned about different details regarding when and where crashes are most apt to occur.

Should you have had the misfortune of having your own wreck that left you injured or claimed the life of a family member, whether it fits into the parameters described above or is wholly unique, reach out to us. We’ll ask you for some additional details about what happened, which is necessary to ascertain whether you have a claim worth pursuing.

Our attorneys have long been handling car accidents in Belgrade and are eager to assist you in understanding your rights and navigating the legal system to ensure those responsible for hurting or taking your loved one from you are held accountable for their negligence.

Use our contact form or call us to schedule your free consultation.