The Montana Department of Transportation had to rescue a driver from an SUV that crashed through a guardrail, traveled down an embankment and landed on the roof of a garage in Madison County this week.
Most people, however, say the real hero of the story is the roof itself. It seemed to support the car fine without much sag or breakthrough.
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office got an emergency call Wednesday about a vehicle that drove off state Highway 84 near Norris Hot Springs.
“The driver was traveling west on Highway 84 in their 2016 Honda Pilot,” Chase Scheuer, spokesman for the Montana Department of Justice, told Cowboy State Daily. “The driver is believed to have fallen asleep behind the wheel.
"The vehicle drove off the roadway, crashed through a guardrail, then traveled down an embankment before ending up on the roof of a garage.”
The Madison County Sheriff’s Office, Harrison Volunteer Fire, Montana Highway Patrol, Madison County Emergency Management, and Madison Valley EMS all responded to the call. The driver was taken to a nearby hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries.
Scheuer said the driver was ticketed for careless driving.
And his 2016 Honda Pilot?
“Troopers recovered the vehicle on the day of the incident,” Scheuer said.
Hey, You Can’t Park There
A 2016 Honda Pilot has a curb weight of more than 2 tons — between 4,054 pounds and 4,317 pounds, depending on the trim level and drivetrain. That’s a lot of weight for any roof to support.
Rock Springs contractor Matt Jackman had some thoughts on the construction after reviewing photos of the Pilot on the garage roof.
“In the world of video games, where cars jumping off roofs is commonplace, this roof is woefully under-constructed, as you can see by the moderate damage done,” he said.
On a serious note, Jackman commended whoever built that garage. The roof wasn’t supporting the full weight of the Honda Pilot, but the amount of weight it was supporting was impressive, nonetheless.
“In the real world, we typically construct roofs to handle 24 to 36 inches of wet, heavy snow before roof failure is even considered,” he said. “That’s about 80 pounds per square foot.
"That car, even with the weight largely distributed to the back wheels, is easily six or seven times that heavy.”
Jackman assumed that this roof was composed of trusses made of metal or old-growth timber. That would partially explain how it was able to absorb and sustain the force and weight of a runaway car.
Regardless, he’s never had to work on a roof project where supporting the weight of a 4,000-pound vehicle was considered.
“I’ve had cars go through walls before, but the only time I’ve seen a car on a roof involved a crane and a bunch of high school seniors,” he said.
For whoever built that garage in Madison County, Jackson had to give them their due from one contractor to another.
“Well done,” he said.
Contact Andrew Rossi at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
