ST. GEORGE — Saturday evening a man was arrested for a DUI after he rolled a minivan on Red Hills Parkway. There were no other occupants in the van and no other vehicles involved. The driver was taken to the hospital and then to jail on DUI and reckless driving charges.
UPDATE May 19, 2014 at 4:36 p.m.: The St. George Police department identified the driver as Rosalio Hernandez, 41, of Hurricane, according to a statement released by the SGPD Monday. Prior to this accident St. George Dispatch received several calls of a vehicle traveling on Red Hills Parkway that was swerving in and out of traffic and speeding.
At 6:15 p.m. Saturday, the St. George Police Department responded to a one-car rollover on Red Hills Parkway. The driver, identified as Hernandez, was going in a general westbound direction when he went off the right hand side of the road, hit some debris and flipped the car, St. George Police Sgt. Wade Johnson said.
The rollover occurred approximately one mile west of 200 East, according to the SGPD’s statement.
The van had rolled approximately 20 feet off Red Hills Parkway. The minivan was totaled and sustained heavy damage to the front, top and sides, Johnson said.
Hernandez didn’t sustain any serious injuries but he was taken to the Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George before he was booked into Washington County’s Purgatory Correctional Facility on two class-B misdemeanors for reckless driving and a DUI.
Besides the St. George Police Department, the St. George Fire Department also responded to the incident.
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… drunks. They are never hurt when they crash, but everyone else dies.
Ed. ellipsis.
More accidents caused by people texting while driving
While statistics show that texting while driving is twice as likely to cause an ~accident~, DUI is 11 times more likely to cause a ~fatality~ (10,839 DUI fatalities vs 995 texting while driving fatalities). You’ll notice there weren’t 6 texting related fatalities in southern Utah this weekend. I agree texting while driving deserves all the attention it gets, but please don’t use it to lessen the attention DUI’s get, because that is the much larger killer.
It’s important to remember that DUI does not always mean drunk. Lots of people will drive while high on pills, which is just as dangerous. People who abuse prescription drugs like opiates and benzodiazepine-class drugs are just as much of a threat on the road.
Unfortunately there is a high rate of abuse of these drugs in southern utah, yet few people like to talk about it because so many people have family members dependent (or over-dependent) on them for various reasons.
Don’t be so quick to blame alcohol unless it actually says the DUI was alcohol-related in the article.
Did he get more citations than that deputy sheriff who wrecked a sheriff vehicle with his children inside while DUI?
As long as he uses the same excuse the Hurricane baby-killer did, he’ should be free to go. Change in routine, and tired? NOT GUILTY!