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Seat belt saves life of hunter who hit six-point elk with truck

Seat belt saves life of hunter than bags six-point elk with truck
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Wearing their seat belt has been credited with saving the life of a hunter that bagged a six-point bull elk with their truck.

According to Montana Highway Patrol (MHP), the man was traveling southbound on U.S. Highway 287 Monday morning near where the road connects with Interstate 15, just north of Wolf Creek.

Trooper Amanda Villa says the vehicle hit the elk at highway speeds, causing it to roll over three to four times, killing the animal and totaling the vehicle.

The hunter only appeared to have a broken arm and a few other minor injuries, but Trooper Villa says the accident could have been a lot worse had the hunter not been wearing their seat belt.

“If you look at the photo when it was flipped over, you can see the driver’s compartment had plenty of room to survive, which is how those compartments are designed,” said Trooper Villa. “Typically in a rollover event like that, when somebody is not restrained they’ll be ejected from the vehicle and more often than not suffer critical or fatal injuries.”

Courtesy MHP: Elk hit by driver

Trooper Villa says this wreck shows how critically important wearing a seat belt is due to all of the unknown factors that can happen when you’re driving.

“You really can never tell what’s going to happen between point A and point B,” said Trooper Villa. “Obviously this gentleman didn’t expect to have a huge six-point elk jump out in front of him while he was thriving on the highway...Putting on your seat belt, making a habit out of it can prevent an unexpected event from becoming a really tragic event.”

This time of year is common for animal collisions and MHP asks people to take extra care while driving in the morning and evening hours.