2 police cars among several hit along snow-covered Utah highway
As snowfall became heavy Wednesday, the afternoon rush-hour drive on Interstate 15 became particularly treacherous as multiple cars and trucks slid and lost control, causing collisions.
The first vehicle was struck by a tractor trailer and shortly after, a Ford Explorer hit the second patrol vehicle in Juab County on Dec. 7. One trooper was injured, according to the Utah Highway Patrol.
Dramatic footage and images showed an incredibly close call as Utah Highway Patrol troopers were pulled over on the side of a highway Wednesday afternoon assisting vehicles that had slid off the slick roadway and rolled over during snowy weather. Two patrol cars were struck by back-to-back vehicles, which were filmed slipping and sliding across the icy freeway, leaving one trooper injured.
“I’ve been hit. I’ve been hit,” said one of the troopers in the dashcam video posted by KSL 5 TV Broadcast Journalist Ladd Egan on Twitter.
The troopers had arrived at the scene of several spin-outs on a curve of Interstate 15 between mileposts 222 and 228 to help motorists, the Department of Public Safety said in a press release. No serious injuries resulted from those incidents.
As two patrol vehicles were parked to the right side of the road, state police said, a trooper in one of the driver’s seats saw a tractor-trailer truck losing control and careening toward his vehicle. The truck struck the driver’s side of the police vehicle, jolting the vehicle forward with the force of impact.
“He could see it coming and was trying to move to the right when it was struck,” the state police later said.
The driver suffered moderate injuries and was taken to a local hospital.
A short time later, a Ford Explorer approached the scene and also lost control, striking the other police vehicle in the rear. Its driver was not in the patrol car at the time, although a police dog was but was unhurt, according to DPS.
The Juab County roads started icing up around 4:30 p.m. local time Wednesday after it began to snow harder than it had earlier in the day. Police closed off a portion of the northbound lanes of I-15 due to the accidents. The highway reopened at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday.
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