GALLATIN COUNTY — A 22-year-old driver heading westbound in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 90 Saturday night was stopped by Gallatin County deputies using stop sticks, officials said.
Gallatin County Sheriff’s Deputy Adam Dunlap said the response happened quickly.
“Deploying the sticks and then getting them into position,” Dunlap said. “Maybe two minutes...”
Pictured: Deputy Adam Dunlap (credit: MTN News)
That was all the time he had to stop the wrong-way driver near the Belgrade off-ramp.
Dunlap, who has been with the sheriff’s office for 10 years, said he has noticed an increase in these types of calls.
“I definitely noticed a considerable uptick in those,” he said.
That increase has prompted multiple agencies to train together on how to respond to wrong-way drivers, Dunlap said.
“It’s not as simple as driving head on and stopping the vehicle,” he said.
Dispatchers and drivers also play a critical role, officials said. Multiple calls from drivers Saturday night helped Bozeman police and Gallatin County deputies coordinate, allowing Dunlap to position himself to deploy the stop sticks.
“That becomes super important for us to then react as quickly as we need to,” Dunlap said.
In the past year, MTN News has reported on nearly 10 wrong-way incidents along I-90, many of which were resolved with stop sticks.
Dunlap demonstrated how the tool works.
WATCH: Deputy Adam Dunlap demonstrates usage of stop sticks
“What this looks like is they are essentially on a fishing line, we toss them out,” he said. “As the vehicle comes along, I am pulling it across.”
The spikes are designed to puncture tires through the bag they are in as a car drives over them.
Saturday night, the stop sticks worked as intended. The driver was arrested and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, illegal highway entrance and criminal endangerment.
Dunlap said the best thing other drivers can do when they see emergency lights on the highway is to slow down.
“Slow down, pay attention. It could be anything from a wrong way driver to a traffic stop to any hazard on the road that we are trying to remove,” he said.
