Hauler dies in accident

A 49-year-old north Lincoln County man was killed Friday in a one-vehicle accident that a reconstruction specialist believes was caused by the overcorrection of the driver after drifting off the roadway.

Maurice F. Egan, of the Fortine area, was killed after the tractor-trailer he was driving drifted right, off Highway 37 at about the 11-mile marker. Egan, who was driving a 2013 Caterpillar truck owned by Lincoln County Refuse, was operating from the Eureka Landfill. 

The vehicle, which was southbound at about 9:46 a.m. Friday, was fully loaded with a 25-foot dumpster and was towing another 25-foot dumpster on a full trailer.  Both dumpsters were loaded with garbage from the refuse site.

According to Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Duane Bowers, of the Libby MHP office, Egan was traveling toward Libby when, for an unknown reason, the truck “slowly and gradually drifted off the right side of the roadway,” Bowers writes in his accident report. 

Egan immediately overcorrected the steering back to the left, Bowers reports, which caused the fully loaded trailer to tip over and separate from the towing unit.  

The trailer tipped over onto its side and dumped its entire load of cargo onto the roadway, which completely blocked both lanes of travel. 

The towing unit continued southbound and Egan once again overcorrected his steering back to the right causing the truck to roll down a steep embankment on the opposite side of the road. The vehicle rolled over one full rotation and came to rest on its wheels at the base of the embankment.

Egan was wearing a seat belt, Bowers reports, and speed, alcohol and/or drug use were not factors in the crash. 

No other vehicles were involved, but Highway 37 was closed for four-plus hours by the State Department of Transportation and traffic was rerouted north and south using the Jennings Haul Road on the opposite side of the Kootenai River.

Egan’s name was withheld by the Montana Highway Patrol until Monday, pending the notification of next of kin.