Icy driveway causes man's death

“Extremely icy road conditions” contributed to the death of a 71-year-old Plains man near the intersection of Highways 135 and 200 in Sanders County Sunday afternoon.

Montana Highway Patrol reports the man, identified as Dennis Ridders, was the sole occupant of a GMC Sierra pickup pulling an empty trailer on a steep driveway at Paradise. The vehicle began to slip, so Ridders got out to put on tire chains. While putting chains on a passenger side tire, the vehicle slid and rolled back on top of him. Ridders was pronounced deceased at the scene.

This is the ninth vehicle fatality reported in Montana in 2019.