WASHINGTON CITY — An odd maneuver by a car on state Route 9 Saturday morning caused a line of three cars to suddenly slow, and the rear car to slam into the back of a pickup truck.
All cars were westbound, witness Sarah Hall of Hurricane said. Hall was driving a Mitsubishi SUV that was not involved in the wreck.
The two cars involved in the crash were in the inside lane, she said, when a gold- or champagne-colored sedan from the outside lane cut across the inside lane towards the off-ramp on the opposite side of SR-9 for N. Coral Canyon Boulevard, then swerved back into the inside lane westbound in front of the line of cars forcing them to brake suddenly.
The champagne-colored sedan did not stop and continued at a fast clip toward St. George, Hall said.
“They swerved past me, and I slowed down, and (drove into) oncoming traffic,” Hall said. “They must have realized their mistake, swerved back in front of me. I managed to brake enough and to swerve into the outside lane, in order to miss hitting him.”
The Ford truck behind Hall managed to stop in time, but the car behind that, a Ford SUV, was not so lucky and hit the back of the Ford truck.
“(It) caused damage to the front (of the SUV) and set off the airbags,” Utah Highway Patrol Trooper James Jessop said. “Fortunately everyone is OK, they were wearing their seat belts, that really helped.”
See video top of this report.
Jessop confirmed the champagne-colored sedan was a factor in the wreck.
“According to witnesses, that was a factor in the crash, as well,” he said.
Jessop put out a reminder about following distance while driving.
“Give yourself plenty of following distance so that you can react to situations like that when people slow down quickly.”
Jessop said there were no injuries in the collision. He said the driver of the Ford SUV received a citation for following too close. The SUV was towed, while the pickup truck was able to drive away from the wreck.
Units from Washington City Police and Fire departments and Utah Highway Patrol troopers responded to the scene of the wreck.
This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.
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People driving like complete clowns today. Either overly aggressive or totally clueless. Had to lay on my horn 3 times today already–3 separate idiots.
After reading the comment above, looks like that makes 4 idiots clowns!
I agree, especially in parking lots, then when I honk my horn they get mad at me. They don’t stop at stop signs either, also when I make a left turn with my blinker on people think they can turn,…… don’t the idiots realize they will t-bone me. What is wrong with these idiots today? I like the feature on the new cars that automatically stop when people don’t pay attention. I wish every car had that feature.
yep, the running of lights and stop signs is a real problem. I been lucky living here so far 0 accidents (knock on wood)