ST. GEORGE – A Honda Civic carrying a family of five, making a left turn across state Route 18, was broadsided by a Jeep Wrangler at 6:15 p.m. today, causing what appeared to be devastating damage to the family car and injuring one person.
The Honda Civic was northbound on SR-18 at mile post 12, between Diamond Valley and Snow Canyon, Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Dan Ferguson said. The driver initiated a left turn into the White Rock Overlook in front of a southbound Jeep Wrangler, which hit the Civic broadside.
The Civic was carrying two adults and three children, ages 10, 8 and 6, all wearing seatbelts and airbags deployed, Ferguson said. The Jeep carried only the driver. All parties are local residents.
One person from the Civic was transported to Dixie Regional Medical Center, Ferguson said. The responding officer went to the hospital after the fact and found the woman had a minor head injury, because she had hit her head and there was glass breaking inside of the car, he said, and her right arm was injured when the Jeep impacted the Civic on her side.
The Honda Civic was totaled but the Jeep incurred very little damage.
The driver of the Civic was cited for making an unsafe lefthand turn.
“It’s getting to be more and more common on that road,” Ferguson said. “A lot of times you’re in a hurry,” he said, and whether glare from the sun – not a factor in this case – the speeds of travel on the road or other factors, Ferguson said the thing that people tell the UHP on accidents out there again and again is that they didn’t see the other car.
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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2013, all rights reserved.
I’ve been driving south on that road and had people pull out of Diamond Valley into the merge lane – and stop dead in their tracks. There have been so many times that people don’t yield to oncoming traffic and the intersection is an accident waiting to happen. Especially when the weather is bad, people need to be courteous and wait to merge. It’s a fantasy that I have that I doubt will happen.
I live in Diamond Valley and make left hand turns 5 days or more a week. This area of road Needs to be widened to 4 lanes NOT just a merge lane and passing lane. This has been an area for accidents for a long, long long time.
Wow, I had a Civic for a while and 5 people in there would have been pretty cozy! 🙂 Hope the injured parties make a full recovery.
In my opinion and not to offend anyone but the reason this happened is that someone made a wrong choice. The road could be 4,5,6 lanes wide but it is not he roads fault. A driver has to judge distance and make the right choice. It seems to me that it shows in all walks of life now that people are not accountable for their actions. Accidents happen and no matter what their will always be finger pointing. But when you drive, drive defensively and make smart choices.
Did you people even read the article?
The collision was at one of those annoying ad hoc overlooks to the state park, not up at Diamond.
Drivers need to be wary when approaching these unmarked sites; they have more than their fair share of slightly lost out-of-towners trying to get in them.
And yes, the turn out to Diamond Valley of the 18 generates its fair share, and then some, of accidents.
“I didn’t see the other vehicle coming!” What a sad, sorry, stupid excuse! Did you not see it, because you did not bother to look? I’ve had cars, bicycles, pedestrians and all other manner of conveyances that I “didn’t see” the first time I looked. Maybe blocked by a portion of the vehicle I was driving, maybe because of sun in my eyes, or maybe other reasons. That is why you NEVER look just ONCE. You look at a very minimum of twice and often you may look several times!
*Some of your information is incorrect Mrs Kuzmanic. “The Honda Civic was totaled but the Jeep incurred very little damage.” I was at the scene of the accident shortly after it occurred and I assure you both vehicles were totaled and had to be towed(60+ mph t-bone collision, not to be rude but use your brain). Furthermore, the driver of the jeep wrangler(possible neck and back injuries) as well as the passenger of the civic were both transported to dixie regional medical facility by means of ambulance.
Mr. Smith,
We appreciate your eyewitness account.
Given variations in your account and that provided by the Utah Highway Patrol last night, we have verified the report with with UHP Sgt. Dan Ferguson again today.
Ferguson said that the female passenger of the Honda Civic was the only person transported by ambulance from the scene. He said that if the driver of the jeep was later transported to the hospital by ambulance, as you and another reader are reporting, then it did not happen from the scene. The UHP Sgt. stands by his report as we have related it.
Ferguson also said that both vehicles were towed but relatively speaking the Civic received the most damage.
We understand injuries may be difficult to quantify in first report and impacts of accidents on the body may emerge after the fact. Our report addresses those known to the responding officers at the scene of the accident.
Thank you for contributing what you saw for our readers’ benefit.
ST. GEORGE NEWS | STGnews.com
Joyce Kuzmanic
Editor in Chief
This article is complete garbage. The civic was at fault in this accident. Obviously the reason why they got a citation. 2 people were transported to the hospital. The woman in the civic and the driver of the jeep. The jeep has minimal damage? If you call totaled being minimal damage. You REALLY need to have ALL the RIGHT FACTS before you post a story!
Dear “this story…”
Please refer to my reply to John Smith’s comment in post to this report. The only thing I would add here is that our report did not seek to assign fault, it did report the citation given.
ST. GEORGE NEWS | STGnews.com
Joyce Kuzmanic
Editor in Chief