CEDAR CITY — Westbound traffic on 200 North near 800 West was diverted to the slow lane for nearly 45 minutes Tuesday evening as officers worked to clear the road of a 2-car wreck that left one woman with minor injuries.
Two women in a brown Subaru Legacy were struck by a woman in a white BMW after the Subaru driver turned left out of the Taco Bell driveway onto 200 North, Officer Destry Griffiths said.
The front driver’s side of the BMW smacked into the rear driver’s side panel of the Subaru damaging its rear axle and setting off the BMW’s airbags. The BMW, which was heading east in the left lane at the time of the crash, came to a rest in the turning lane, while the Subaru wound up in the westbound fast lane, Griffiths said.
Both cars had to be towed from the site, but the BMW was a total loss. Until the scene was able to be cleared, Griffiths said, westbound traffic was reduced to just the outside lane.
“We didn’t have to worry about the eastbound traffic,” Griffiths said. “(But) it naturally blocked it off (on the west side) anyway so people already knew that they couldn’t go in those lanes, they had to go in the right hand lane going westbound.”
The driver of the Subaru told Griffiths that when she pulled out there was plenty of room for her to make the left turn and that she believed the BMW driver was speeding, the officer said.
“There is no evidence of that … and there’s no way I could determine the speed,” Griffiths said, “but I believe that area is 45 mph so they’re clipping along in that area.”
The driver of the Subaru was found at fault for failure to yield, he said.
The occupants of both vehicles were examined by Gold Cross Ambulance professionals on the scene, but no transports were made. After talking to the driver of the BMW later however, Griffiths said, he learned she was taking herself to Cedar City Instacare for a closer examination.
An off-duty Utah Highway Patrolman was the first to arrive to the accident after the call was issued from the Cedar Communication Center at 4:17 p.m., Griffiths said, adding that it was turned over to Cedar City Police to handle once they were there.
“Whenever we’re in our cars, if we’re off duty, that’s part of the ethics of (law enforcement),” Griffiths said. “If we see something then we’re supposed to help out until an on-duty officer of whatever jurisdiction is supposed to be there.”
At the end of it all, Griffiths said, he was just grateful that the injuries weren’t as bad as they could have been considering the speed in that area.
“There definitely sounds like there are minor injuries where somebody’s going to have some pain for a while,” he said. “With the speed and everything, it could have been a whole lot worse.”
This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.