What began as a one-vehicle collision with a guardrail on Highway 93 South between Lolo and Missoula, led to a chain reaction of vehicle crashes resulting in one person transported to St. Patrick Hospital, and three traffic citations.

Montana Highway Patrol trooper Andrew Novak was the investigating officer. He said the incident began at about 10:30 a.m. when a male, apparently driving under the influence, lost control of his northbound vehicle and crashed into the guardrail at about mile marker 86 between Missoula and Lolo.

"He was partially blocking the right hand northbound lane," Novak said. "Another vehicle pulled in behind him with his four-way flashers on to warn oncoming traffic. At about 10:33 a.m. a red Nissan pickup rear-ended a white Toyota Four Runner, which sent it into the gray Scion with its four-way flashers on."

"Essentially, there was a one vehicle DUI crash, and then there was a three-vehicle crash where one person was injured and transported to St. Patrick Hospital with non life-threatening injuries. Then, at about 10:50 a.m. while law enforcement were on scene with the two crashes, another vehicle struck yet another vehicle. So, there were three crashes as a result of the first one."

Novak said the first driver was cited for DUI, while two others were cited for careless driving.

Traffic was backed up for about two hours while wreckers cleared the scene.

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