HURRICANE – A two-vehicle collision Monday morning left two women injured but a child buckled into a car seat was unharmed.
The crash occurred at about 9:13 a.m. Monday, near 6300 West State Street in Hurricane which is also state Route 9.
The incident happened after a small passenger car broke down in the inside westbound travel lane of State Street, Hurricane Police Sgt. Brandon Buell said.
“An officer with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement observed this vehicle stopped, stopped behind it, activated their emergency lights,” Buell said.
The ICE officer got out of the 2007 black Chevy Tahoe he was driving and helped push the disabled car out of the road, Buell said.
“While doing so, the Ford Explorer ran into the back of the emergency vehicle, the Chevy Tahoe.” The Tahoe was unoccupied when it was struck.
The impact pushed the Tahoe about 100 feet out, into and through the intersection, Buell said. “It was quite a substantial impact,” Buell said.
The 2004 Ford Explorer was driven by a 28-year-old woman. The driver and a woman passenger were both pinned in the vehicle and had to be extricated.
The driver was injured and was transported to Dixie Regional Medical Center in serious condition. An adult woman passenger was also injured and transported to the hospital in stable condition.
A child riding in a car seat in the back of the Explorer was not injured.
Michael McPherson was just “headed to work on a normal day,” when he came upon the accident scene.
“We jumped out to help because no one had arrived yet,” McPherson said. “By the time we got over there, two or three other guys jumped out to help us. So we ripped the door open and stuff to make sure the lady was OK.”
“There was a baby in the back seat in the car seat, in the car at the time. We pulled the baby out to make sure she was good, and then we checked on the older two ladies in the vehicle,” McPherson said.
Traffic was impacted for 45 minutes, Buell said, and limited to one lane of travel in each direction.
The accident is still under investigation, Buell said.
Buell encourages citizens to call police if a car breaks down in the roadway, so officers can respond and help resolve the situation safely.
Utah Highway Patrol, Hurricane Police Department, Hurricane Valley Fire District and Utah Department of Transportation responded to the accident.
This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.
St. George News reporter Julie Applegate contributed to this story.
Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.
A two-vehicle collision Monday in Hurricane left two women injured, Hurricane, Utah, July 25, 2016 | Photo by Mike Cole, St. George News
A two-vehicle collision Monday in Hurricane left two women injured, Hurricane, Utah, July 25, 2016 | Photo by Mike Cole, St. George News
A two-vehicle collision Monday in Hurricane left two women injured, Hurricane, Utah, July 25, 2016 | Photo by Mike Cole, St. George News
A two-vehicle collision Monday in Hurricane left two women injured but a young child unhurt, Hurricane, Utah, July 25, 2016 | Photo by Mike Cole, St. George News
A two-vehicle collision Monday in Hurricane left two women injured, Hurricane, Utah, July 25, 2016 | Photo by Mike Cole, St. George News
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.
Those children’s car seats are lifesavers.
Wonder if someone in front of them suddenly swerved and they smashed into the back… happened to me once… even being a car length per ten miles per hour doesn’t stop that…