By Jason Stuart
Ranger-Review Staff Writer
Two people perished this week as a result of two separate single-vehicle crashes on Interstate 94. In both cases, the victims were not wearing their seat belt and were ejected from the vehicle.
On Thursday, Donald Haun, a 59-year-old man from Billings, was killed after the vehicle he was riding in crashed just outside of Glendive.
According to the Montana Highway Patrol dispatch center, the crash occurred at approximately 2:14 p.m. near mile marker 207. The vehicle, a Chevrolet Express van, was eastbound when the driver lost control and swerved into the roadside ditch. The driver overcorrected, sending the van careening across the eastbound lanes into the median. Once entering the median, the vehicle began to roll, at which point Haun, who was not wearing his seat belt, was ejected. The van finally came to rest upside down in the median.
The MHP stated that the driver of the vehicle, a 34-year-old man also from Billings, fell asleep at the wheel. Speed is also a suspected factor in the crash. However, the driver, whose name has not been released, was wearing his seat belt and suffered only minor injuries. He was transported to Glendive Medical Center for treatment.
Haun was also transported to GMC, but was pronounced dead on arrival. The accident remains under investigation.
Earlier this week, a woman died from injuries sustained in a single-vehicle accident just outside of Fallon in Prairie County on Friday, Sept. 16.
Alexandra “Lexi” Rudh, 27, of Grand Forks, N.D., died on Sunday at St. Vincent Healthcare in Billings from the injuries she sustained in the crash.
According to the MHP, Rudh, a native of Missoula, was travelling westbound on I-94 last Friday in a 2013 Cadillac SRX when she lost control. The vehicle drifted towards the median and she overcorrected to the right, crossing both lanes of traffic and going into the ditch. At that point, the vehicle struck a Montana Department of Transportation fence, then overturned several times, rolling right across Old Highway 10 before finally coming to rest in a ditch.
Rudh was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the vehicle. She was initially transported to Prairie Community Hospital before being moved to St. Vincent.
The accident remains under investigation, but the MHP strongly suspects texting while driving was a factor. According to witnesses, Rudh was observed passing them holding her cell phone above the wheel of her car. Speed is another suspected factor, as witnesses reported Rudh passing them going in excess of 85 mph.
Reach Jason Stuart at rrreporter@rangerreview.com.
