The New Hidden Crisis Behind Montana’s Roadway Tragedies

BUTTE, MT - On the evening of April 15, 2025, 21-year-old Ava Tolliver was riding her motorcycle down a familiar Bozeman road.

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It was just after 5:30 p.m., the hour when people head home, when shadows get longer, when routine turns can become life-altering.

As a pickup truck turned left across her lane near the intersection of Stucky and Cottonwood, Ava’s ride ended in an instant.

She was wearing a helmet. She wasn’t drinking. She was doing what thousands of Montanans do every day: taking to the road.

But in Montana, even an ordinary drive can become deadly.

A Community in Mourning, Again

The Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office confirmed what no family ever wants to hear: Ava died of blunt force injuries at the scene.

She was young, local, and full of life. Her death hit Bozeman hard, and like so many crashes before it, left behind a haunting silence that echoes long after the sirens stop.

The crash report notes that the motorcycle may have been traveling over the posted speed limit—but drugs and alcohol were ruled out, and the pickup truck had accidentally turned across the centerline into a gravel lot.

In short, it was a moment—just one—and it changed everything.

Montana’s Roads: Beauty and Brutality

We love our space in Montana.

Big Sky Country offers freedom and open stretches of road that make you feel like anything is possible. But those same roads can be deceptive.

Left turns without traffic signals, narrow lanes without shoulders, and intersections with limited visibility are scattered throughout both urban and rural Montana.

Montana leads the nation in roadway fatalities per capita for a reason: vast distances, fast speeds, and infrastructure that often lags behind the population growth it’s trying to support.

Motorcyclists, especially, are at risk.

Despite helmets and experience, they’re often invisible until it’s too late.

It’s Never Just One Mistake

No one sets out to cause a fatal crash.

In Ava’s case, neither driver was suspected to be intoxicated. There were no chases, no criminal intent—just a split-second decision that ended a life.

Montanans drive with a sense of trust. We trust the other driver will see us. We trust the turn will be safe. We trust the roads will guide us home.

But sometimes, even when everything seems fine, it isn’t.

That doesn’t mean anyone’s to blame, it means we have to start recognizing that our roads aren’t as forgiving as they feel.

What Ava’s Story Tells Us

Ava Tolliver’s crash isn’t the first. It won’t be the last. And that’s what hurts most.

We can—and should—have real conversations about safer infrastructure, driver education, motorcycle awareness, and the culture of speed.

But none of those changes will bring Ava back. What they can do is help the next young woman get home.

We Can Do Better. And We Have To.

Ava’s name joins a list that grows too quickly in Montana—of lives interrupted, families shattered, and roads marked by tragedy.

Because the next curve, the next turn, the next dusk hour could hold another young rider, taken away way too soon.

And none of us can afford to treat these crashes as accidents we just have to accept.