ST. GEORGE – The one-car accident that caused power outages around 2:05 p.m. Tuesday involved a woman’s Toyota 4Runner flipping on its passenger side in oncoming traffic, with her and her dog inside. During the rollover, the woman fell out of the driver’s seat and ended up resting pressed up against the passenger side window, inside her overturned car.
Emergency personnel quickly responded to help pull her out of the vehicle and the woman was seen walking around after the accident.
Once the car stopped rolling, the first person to make contact with the woman was Paul Dunsdon who witnessed the accident. Dunsdon said she was shaken up, laying on her side, talking.
She was traumatized, but also had a little dog with her named Timmy who was traumatized as well, another witness, Logan Sisam, said.
The woman knew she wasn’t hurt, and she wasn’t visibly injured, Dunsdon said, but she also knew not to move until emergency personnel showed up.
Another woman from the Bureau of Land Management office, where the 4Runner was prior to the accident, came and took care of the dog who wasn’t harmed in the accident, Sisam said.
Sisam and Dunsdon were driving by the BLM office when they noticed the 4Runner, which had sped right over the curb of the BLM office and across the gravel between the lot and the sidewalk. The 4Runner then turned and hit an electrical box, and started to roll, Sisam said. At this point, they witnessed the vehicle roll over the sidewalk and into oncoming traffic on Riverside Drive.
“It looked like she tried to turn to avoid going into the street, she hit the box and it spun her car around and threw it on its side,” Sisam said. “If she didn’t do that she probably would have gone into traffic and probably would have hit someone driving. I’m actually quite surprised that she didn’t hit anyone out here.”
Once Dunsdon approached the woman after the accident, she said that the accelerator stuck, launching her over the curb, and down through the gravel, he said.
Gold Cross responders and Dunsdon stayed and talked with the woman in her overturned car while a St. George Police Officer directed traffic until Fire and EMS arrived within approximately five minutes, Sisam said.
“Their response time was amazing,” Sisam said. “Gold Cross was here within maybe two minutes, if that.”
The 4Runner was towed from the scene and traffic was slowed for a short time.
The box that the 4Runner crushed was a St. George City power box, and caused a power outage in the surrounding area.
St. George News Reporter Natalie Barrett contributed to this report.
Related Posts
- Two cars, left turn on yellow makes for intersection crash
- Failure to stop leads to three-car collision
- Another left-turn crash; flashing yellow light to blame
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2014, all rights reserved.
I thought that Toyota was supposed to have fixed their cars that had the accelerator problems. Glad she and her pup weren’t injured.
shud’ve put lube on it if it sticks
Obviously she was not wearing her seat belt or she wouldn’t have been thrown around like that. I’d say she is a very lucky, (if not too intelligent,) lady.
I am the lady in the car – I am greatful to be alive and that the accident did not involve anyone else.
I was just pulling into park, taking my seat belt off and putting the vehicle into park when it took off. The “not too inteligent lady” did have the presence of mind to avoid going directly into the Riverside Drive traffic.
I am thankful to be alive and for the kindness of the witnesses and first responders. I have nothing but good to say for their timleness and kindness.