LEEDS — One Park City woman was transported to the hospital and her daughter was pronounced dead following a vehicle rollover that occurred on southbound Interstate 15 Wednesday night.
At approximately 10:37 p.m. Natalie Holt, 19, was driving a silver BMW SUV with her mother, Audrey Matthews, 56, southbound on I-15. As they neared mile marker 36, Holt lost control of the vehicle and possibly over-corrected causing the SUV to swerve left through the median, over the cable barrier and across northbound traffic, Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Todd Royce said.
The SUV then rolled off the roadway down a steep rocky embankment where it came to a stop lying on its roof in large rocks and trees. UHP arrived on scene.
“We’re not sure how many times the vehicle rolled,” Royce said.
Holt was ejected from the SUV and reported dead-on-scene. Matthews was believed to have been wearing her seatbelt and was transported by ambulance to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George in stable condition. The vehicle was towed.
A couple of factors that may have contributed to this incident were excessive speed and a possibility of a deer in the roadway that Holt had swerved to miss, Royce said.
This incident remains under investigation.
This report is based on preliminary information provided by responders on scene and may not contain the full scope of findings.
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19-year-old *woman dead after SUV rollover
Why can’t we realize that a seatbelt and slower driving speed will save you life? Who is to say you have to travel on I-15 at the max speed limit? Sad to see people in this state willing to risk their lives just to max out the speed limit. I made a vow to never go over 55-60 on the freeways. This is within the law and I save gas as well. Please wear a seatbelt!
While I absolutely agree that driving slower and wearing your seatbelt is definitely an important factor in preventing accidents; I also do believe that driving 55-60mph on an 75-80mph highway is extremely dangerous. Not driving with the speed of traffic or at least the posted limit can cause accidents as well… just something to consider?
Hate to disagree, but assuming a 75 mph speed limit, if you are doing 55-60, people (including large trucks) are coming up behind you at a frighteningly rapid pace, causing all kinds of other problems. I don’t feel the obligation to drive 75 but I try to be going fast enough that people behind me have time to pass. However, if the road is wet or icy, all bets are off and I’m with you.
When I replied to your post, my “sarcasm detector” was not turned on…Perhaps I fell for it??
going 55 on a freeway is actually against the law, it is actually your obligation to keep your speed at least near equivalent to the traffic around you. Most freeways near towns are 65, not 60 and most rural freeways (in utah at least) are 75-80. This means that, you are actually creating a dangerous situation on the roadway, you can, and will get cited for it.
This is very sad. I wish young drivers would be told to never swerve to avoid an animal. If hitting the aniimal is unavoidable,brake and stay in your lane. I know it is instinct ti do it but if something is going to die,I would rather injure or kill the animal ,not the person. It is cruel to think about but necessary.
Tommyaxboy, She was wearing a seat belt. People can get killed even when wearing a seatbelt and going slow enough. I know in this case they said speed might (they are only speculating at this point) have been a factor. But she had a belt on .
My apologies on forgetting the S in Tommysaxboy. I would fix it if I could.
I hope you use flashers in the highway if your going 55…
It’s really unfortunate that driver’s training does not include enough tactical experience with roadway obstacles and hard-handling of cars. It could save lives. I had a near miss on a highway when I was 17, swerved to miss a deer and nearly rolled down an embankment. Learned the hard way that your natural reaction is not always the right one and you must judge based on the size of the animal, and sometimes make the hard choice where to hit the animal (ie: head or tail) rather than swerving to miss it altogether. You have a better chance of survival after the collision, even though your car will sustain damage, but you can keep better control over your own vehicle and avoid hitting other objects (and other vehicles).
R.I.P