Bozeman, MontanaBozeman Car Accident
Bozeman Car Accident Lawyers: 19th Avenue, Huffine Lane and I-90 Crashes in Gallatin County
Boland Aarab PLLP.
A car crash in Bozeman is usually handled first by the Bozeman Police Department, the Gallatin County Sheriff or the Montana Highway Patrol, depending on where it happened. A lawsuit filed in state court goes to the Eighteenth Judicial District Court in Bozeman. You generally have three years to file, but insurers start building their file the same day.
Hurt in a crash on a Bozeman street or a Gallatin Valley highway? Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
Where do car crashes happen in and around Bozeman?
Bozeman’s traffic has outgrown many of its roads, and the crashes follow the pressure points:
- North 19th Avenue and North 7th Avenue. These are the city’s two main north–south arterials, and each has its own I-90 interchange (Exit 305 and Exit 306). Retail driveways, left turns across several lanes and backups near the interchange ramps produce rear-end and T-bone crashes. The Montana Department of Transportation has been rebuilding five signalized intersections on 7th Avenue North, from West Main Street to Nikles Drive, with new signals, turn lanes and sidewalks (MDT project fact sheet).
- Main Street and Huffine Lane. U.S. 191 runs through downtown on Main Street and west to Four Corners as Huffine Lane, a high-speed commuter corridor lined with new subdivisions and turning traffic.
- Jackrabbit Lane (Montana 85) between Four Corners and Belgrade, the main route to Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport. Many drivers on it are visitors in rental cars on unfamiliar roads.
- Interstate 90, from Belgrade through Bozeman and east over Bozeman Pass toward Livingston, where wind-driven snow and ice regularly close lanes and cause chain-reaction crashes in winter.
- Gallatin Canyon (U.S. 191) south to Big Sky: a two-lane mountain road carrying commuters, ski traffic, tourists and freight.
Winter adds black ice, blowing snow and short daylight from November through March. Weather does not excuse a driver who went too fast for the conditions or followed too closely.
What happens after a car accident in Bozeman?
The report. Inside city limits the Bozeman Police Department usually investigates. Outside the city, the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office handles county roads and the Montana Highway Patrol usually takes crashes on I-90 and state and U.S. highways. Reports from Bozeman Police and the Sheriff are kept by Gallatin County Support Services/Records on the second floor of the Judge Guenther Memorial Center, 1709 West College Street, and are requested through the county’s records portal (Gallatin County). Highway Patrol reports are requested from the Montana Department of Justice.
The insurance claims. You will usually deal with the at-fault driver’s insurer and your own. In a valley full of visitors, the other driver may be insured in another state, or driving a rental car with layered coverage. We identify every policy early.
The court. If the case is filed in Gallatin County, it goes to the Eighteenth Judicial District Court (§ 3-5-101, MCA), which sits in the Gallatin County Law and Justice Center at 515 South 16th Avenue. If the defendant is from out of state and the claim is large enough, the case may be moved to federal court. For Gallatin County, that is the Butte Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, at the Mike Mansfield Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Butte (D. Mont. L.R. 1.2).
Montana law that applies
The short version, with our Montana car accident lawyer page covering the details:
- Three years to file most injury claims (§ 27-2-204, MCA).
- Modified comparative fault. You can recover if your share of fault is not greater than the combined fault of those you sue, reduced by your percentage (§ 27-1-702, MCA).
- Low minimum limits. Montana requires only $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident in bodily-injury coverage (§ 61-6-103, MCA). Your own underinsured motorist coverage often matters most.
- Seat belts. Whether you wore one is not admissible in a Montana injury case (§ 61-13-106, MCA).
- Medical bills before settlement. When liability is reasonably clear, the at-fault driver’s insurer may have to pay medical expenses before the case resolves (Ridley v. Guaranty National Insurance Co., 1997).
- Road defects. Claims against the State, Gallatin County or the City of Bozeman have written-notice requirements (§ 2-9-301, MCA).
Why hire a Great Falls firm for a Bozeman case?
Because the work that decides a car case does not depend on where the lawyer parks. We are based in Great Falls and handle cases across Montana. Our attorneys travel to Bozeman for client meetings, depositions, hearings and trial, and the evidence, experts and trial preparation are the same wherever the crash happened. We do not have a Bozeman office, and we will not pretend to. What we offer is trial lawyers who build every case to be tried.
The Boland Aarab Way
- We protect verdicts. When a Phillips County jury’s $168,500 verdict for a woman rear-ended by a pickup was thrown out, we took it to the Montana Supreme Court and had it reinstated (Voegel v. Salsbery, 2023 MT 137).
- We try cases. Our attorneys have spent more than 4,000 hours in the courtroom and have tried more than a dozen jury trials in Cascade, Phillips, Meagher and Yellowstone Counties.
- We know federal court. More than 40 cases in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana over nine years, and two Ninth Circuit arguments by Samir Aarab.
- You work with the lawyers who will try your case, from the first call.
We also handle truck accident cases in Bozeman and pedestrian accident cases in Bozeman. See all of our Bozeman personal injury work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who investigates a car crash in Bozeman? Bozeman Police usually handle crashes inside city limits, the Gallatin County Sheriff handles county roads, and the Montana Highway Patrol usually handles I-90 and the highways. The agency matters because it tells you where to request the report.
How do I get a Bozeman Police crash report? Bozeman Police and Sheriff’s Office reports are kept by Gallatin County Support Services/Records at 1709 West College Street and are requested through the county’s online records portal.
The other driver was a tourist in a rental car. Who pays? It depends on the driver’s own policy, the rental company’s coverage and any coverage bought at the counter. We sort out the layers early, and your own underinsured motorist coverage may also apply.
Where would my Bozeman car accident lawsuit be filed? In the Eighteenth Judicial District Court in Bozeman. If an out-of-state defendant removes it to federal court, it goes to the Butte Division, not Billings.
Does a crash on icy Bozeman Pass mean no one is at fault? No. Montana drivers must adjust to conditions. A driver who was too fast, too close or distracted on ice can still be responsible.
Contact Boland Aarab PLLP for a free consultation at (406) 315-3737.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
