The Montana Highway Patrol presented a Saved by the Belt Award on Friday to a 21-year-old Dillon woman who survived a crash only because she was wearing a seat belt.
Alisha Birdwell was driving to the Big Hole Valley on Aug. 1 to see her boyfriend when she glanced away from the road for a second and went off the pavement. Birdwell's Volkswagen GTI struck a delineator post, mailbox, telephone box, two rock pillars, and a fence before flipping.
Trooper Renee Grimsrud responded to the scene and said that Birdwell's seat belt was the only reason she survived. Grimsrud said the pillars Birdwell struck showered the inside of her car with rocks and that if Birdwell wasn't restrained to her seat, her airbag wouldn't have blocked the debris.
Birdwell required 35 stitches to partially reattach her ear but was relatively unscathed in the crash.
"She was pretty lucky," Grimsrud said.
"I thought my car was fine, but the passenger's side was completely caved in," Birdwell said.
Grimsrud nominated Birdwell for the award, which comes with a one-year AAA membership.
The Saved by the Belt Award began seven years ago in response to the dramatic number of fatalities and debilitating injuries resulting from a lack of seat belt use in Montana.
All the troopers from the Butte District present for the award ceremony said they had seen fatals that could have been prevented if people were wearing seat belts and that it was true for troopers statewide.
Trooper Tammy Perkins said in 10 years she's only ever seen one fatal wreck where a seat belt wouldn't have saved a life.
"Eighty-percent of our fatalities we would not see if people were wearing seat belts," Perkins said.
Birdwell said her 21st birthday was only a month after the crash and that she was happy to be there for it.