PAROWAN — A woman driving on northbound Interstate 15 near Parowan had to be extricated from her vehicle Sunday when she rolled after overcorrecting and almost hit a police car that was on the side of the road.
Around 5:27 p.m., the 55-year-old woman was driving in the right lane of the highway when she started to drift to the left. When she tried to get back into her lane, she overcorrected and rolled her Ford Expedition off the shoulder of the road, Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Brian Bairett said.
UHP Trooper Bambi Baie had just finished a traffic stop near milepost 73 when the woman veered off the road, missing her by just a few feet.
“She almost hit me, and rolled off the road,” Baie said.
Troopers are investigating distracted driving as a possible cause of the crash, Bairett said.
The woman had to be extricated from the totaled car and was taken by ambulance to the hospital. She was alert with injuries Bairett said were likely not life-threatening.
“But you never know,” Bairett said of the woman’s injuries. “There could be internal bleeding, head injuries, you never know.”
The woman’s car had been full of different things, from movies and books to clothes, a suitcase, paint, letters and photographs, though the woman couldn’t remember where she was going with so much.
During the rollover, the woman’s belongings were scattered across the side of the highway. Tobi Kerby, a Paragonah resident who was behind the woman during the crash, stopped and began collecting the scattered objects.
Kerby said she had been in a crash before, but when she went back to collect what had been ejected from her car, it was all gone.
“If I’d rolled, I’d want someone to pick up all of my good stuff,” Kerby said.
Utah Highway Patrol, Gold Cross Ambulance and Parowan Fire responded to the scene.
This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.
Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.
Gold Cross Ambulance loads a woman into the ambulance after she rolled off I-15, Parowan, Utah, Oct. 11, 2015 | Photo by Emily Hammer, St. George Newz
Tobi Kerby picks up a woman's scattered belongings after the woman rolled off I-15, Parowan, Utah, Oct. 11, 2015 | Photo by Emily Hammer, St. George News
A woman rolled off I-15, scattering her belongings, Parowan, Utah, Oct. 11, 2015 | Photo by Emily Hammer, St. George News
A woman rolled off I-15, totaling her car, Parowan, Utah, Oct. 11, 2015 | Photo by Emily Hammer, St. George News
A woman rolled off I-15, totaling her car, Parowan, Utah, Oct. 11, 2015 | Photo by Emily Hammer, St. George News
A woman rolled off I-15, totaling her car, Parowan, Utah, Oct. 11, 2015 | Photo by Emily Hammer, St. George News
A woman rolled off I-15, totaling her car, Parowan, Utah, Oct. 11, 2015 | Photo by Emily Hammer, St. George News
A woman rolled off I-15, totaling her car, Parowan, Utah, Oct. 11, 2015 | Photo by Emily Hammer, St. George News
A woman rolled off I-15, totaling her car, Parowan, Utah, Oct. 11, 2015 | Photo by Emily Hammer, St. George News
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It’s a challenge to understand why so many cars roll on Utah’s wide, flat highways in good driving weather. But I’ll say that Tobi Kerby is a good person for retrieving this woman’s belongings.
Over corrected …because she had drifted out of her lane …because she was texting?
Doesn’t Utah already have a law that says no distracted driving, no driving while texting and no driving while using a phone with your hands?
Will they not cite her, because she already lost so much with the destruction of her car and belongings?
Write the freaking ticket already.