MOHAVE COUNTY, Ariz. – If a Nevada man hadn’t stepped out of his car when he did, he would now be dead.
Around 5 a.m., MST, Monday, a UPS semitruck hauling two trailers on southbound Interstate 15 was reported to have T-boned a Toyota Camry that was stopped horizontally across the left lane of the roadway near milepost 3, said Sgt. John Bottoms of the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Initially the UPS semitruck driver thought he had killed someone in the Toyota, Bottoms said. As it turned out, the man driving the passenger car, a 31-year-old resident of Boulder, Nevada, had gotten out of the car just moments before the collision occurred.
“It would certainly have been a fatality if the driver of the passenger car had been inside his vehicle when it got hit by the 18-wheeler,” Bottoms said. “The steering wheel of the driver’s side was almost touching the passenger side door.”
The Nevada man had just barely finished being involved in another moment of vehicular mayhem that left his car in the position it was in when the semitruck hit it.
The man had been southbound on I-15, returning home after visiting his girlfriend in St. George, Bottoms said, when he dozed off.
When the driver nodded off, the car drifted to the left and hit the rumble strip on the side of the roadway. Roused by this, the man tried to get his car back into the right lane and ended up sliding across both lanes of traffic and into the guard rail.
Ultimately, the Toyota Camry came to a rest in the left lane. Once the car stopped moving the driver got out of the vehicle.
A moment later the semi slammed into the Camry. The UPS driver pulled over to the median to assess the damage, which he feared could have been much worse. Fortunately the Camry’s driver had been the sole occupant of the vehicle.
“He was extremely fortunate,” Bottoms said.
While there were no injuries reported – except for the Toyota Camry that may count as a fatality in its own right – the Nevada man was cited for being the party at fault for the collision.
This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or first responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.
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A Nevada man could have been an early-morning fatality on southbound I-15 had it not been for stepping out of his car when he did. The man dozed off and momentarily lost control of his vehicle which skidded across the road, coming to a stop in the middle of the highway’s left lane near milepost 3. A moment after he got out of the car, a semi collided with it. Mohave County, Arizona, Oct. 17, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Sgt. John Bottoms, Arizona Department of Public Safety, St. George News
A Nevada man could have been an early-morning fatality on southbound I-15 had it not been for stepping out of his car when he did. The man dozed off and momentarily lost control of his vehicle which skidded across the road, coming to a stop in the middle of the highway’s left lane near milepost 3. A moment after he got out of the car, a semi collided with it. Mohave County, Arizona, Oct. 17, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Sgt. John Bottoms, Arizona Department of Public Safety, St. George News
A Nevada man could have been an early-morning fatality on southbound I-15 had it not been for stepping out of his car when he did. The man dozed off and momentarily lost control of his vehicle which skidded across the road, coming to a stop in the middle of the highway’s left lane near milepost 3. A moment after he got out of the car, a semi collided with it. Mohave County, Arizona, Oct. 17, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Sgt. John Bottoms, Arizona Department of Public Safety, St. George News
A Nevada man could have been an early-morning fatality on southbound I-15 had it not been for stepping out of his car when he did. The man dozed off and momentarily lost control of his vehicle which skidded across the road, coming to a stop in the middle of the highway’s left lane near milepost 3. A moment after he got out of the car, a semi collided with it. Mohave County, Arizona, Oct. 17, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Sgt. John Bottoms, Arizona Department of Public Safety, St. George News
A Nevada man could have been an early-morning fatality on southbound I-15 had it not been for stepping out of his car when he did. The man dozed off and momentarily lost control of his vehicle which skidded across the road, coming to a stop in the middle of the highway’s left lane near milepost 3. A moment after he got out of the car, a semi collided with it. Mohave County, Arizona, Oct. 17, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Sgt. John Bottoms, Arizona Department of Public Safety, St. George News
A Nevada man could have been an early-morning fatality on southbound I-15 had it not been for stepping out of his car when he did. The man dozed off and momentarily lost control of his vehicle which skidded across the road, coming to a stop in the middle of the highway’s left lane near milepost 3. A moment after he got out of the car, a semi collided with it. Mohave County, Arizona, Oct. 17, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Sgt. John Bottoms, Arizona Department of Public Safety, St. George News
A Nevada man could have been an early-morning fatality on southbound I-15 had it not been for stepping out of his car when he did. The man dozed off and momentarily lost control of his vehicle which skidded across the road, coming to a stop in the middle of the highway’s left lane near milepost 3. A moment after he got out of the car, a semi collided with it. Mohave County, Arizona, Oct. 17, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Sgt. John Bottoms, Arizona Department of Public Safety, St. George News
A Nevada man could have been an early-morning fatality on southbound I-15 had it not been for stepping out of his car when he did. The man dozed off and momentarily lost control of his vehicle which skidded across the road, coming to a stop in the middle of the highway’s left lane near milepost 3. A moment after he got out of the car, a semi collided with it. Mohave County, Arizona, Oct. 17, 2016 | Photo courtesy of Sgt. John Bottoms, Arizona Department of Public Safety, St. George News
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2 reasons this type of thing happens:
-speed limit is too slow. its always much safer to go faster. change limit from 80 to 85 or 90
-2 trailers is always less safe than 3. put 3-5 trailers on for a much safer truck
these are common sense items that will make us all safer on the roads. remember: speed saves lives! and very heavy trucks with lots of trailers save lives! remember: the heavier vehicle at faster speed is the safest on the road! common sense folks
2 reasons ? I didn’t know you could count that high !
load that sucker up with so many trailers its like a UPS freight train, it’ll be the safest thing on the road
a safe rule to always live by “drive like hell; let god sort ’em out”
anybody get that lucky should play the lottery. LOL ! But Im glad no one was hurt and everyone involved will be home with their loved ones. .
and he was not injured by standing outside the accident.. (alot of deaths that way) yes i agree he should play the lotto this week.