Dear readers,
For 25 years, I’ve called this region home. I’ve watched Big Sky grow, our community evolve, and our roads fill with more people than ever. But never in those 25 years have I seen U.S. Highway 191 as dangerous as it is today.
The combination of high-speed traffic, oversized trucks, impaired drivers, narrow shoulders, deteriorating pavement, and abundant wildlife has created a deadly formula. Earlier this month, Explore Big Sky published an in-depth story outlining these risks. The response from our readers has been overwhelming and clear: Something must change.
This past year, we have lost too many lives to vehicle crashes in the canyon. The recent accident involving members of our dedicated and hardworking EMS staff is a real wake-up call. When the very people who show up to save lives become victims themselves, it underscores the severity of what we’re facing.
Let me be frank—there is no overnight solution. While we are actively working with Gallatin County, the state of Montana and Montana Department of Transportation to advocate for critical changes—lowering speed limits, restricting unnecessary semi-truck traffic, increasing law enforcement resources, and exploring wildlife crossing solutions—these measures take time.
But there is one solution that starts today, and it begins with you.
You are the first and most important line of defense in making U.S. 191 safer. That means slowing down. It means driving calmly, resisting the urge to aggressively pass, staying alert, reporting reckless behavior, and keeping your focus on the road. The canyon is not a racetrack—it’s a winding corridor with lives on the line.
Last week, I rode in an ambulance from Big Sky to Bozeman at 11 p.m. During that drive, three vehicles passed us—two of them illegally across double yellow lines. That image—cars overtaking an ambulance en route to a hospital—is as powerful and obscene a metaphor as I can imagine for where we are today.
This has to stop.
As residents and visitors of this extraordinary place, we share a responsibility. Let’s be the kind of community that protects each other. Let’s make U.S. 191 safer, one decision at a time—starting behind the wheel.
Stay safe,
Eric Ladd
Publisher, Explore Big Sky
