ST. GEORGE – A three-car accident Monday snarled lunchtime traffic at the intersection of River Road and Riverside Drive, but left all three drivers and their five young passengers uninjured.
At about 11 a.m., a red Ford F-150 pulling a landscaping trailer was traveling southbound on River Road approaching the light at Riverside Drive. The light turned red, but the truck continued through the intersection, St. George Police Officer Jamison Hale said.
“The driver told me he looked down, he saw that it was red, he couldn’t stop, he thinks it would be better for him to just go through the intersection,” Hale said.
As the driver traveled through the intersection, the Ford was t-boned by a silver Pontiac Torrent that was traveling eastbound on Riverside Drive. A Hyundai Santa Fe following the Torrent was unable to stop, and struck the back of the Torrent, Hale said.
The Torrent sustained significant front end damage, and some rear end damage, and could be a total loss, Hale said. The Santa Fe and the Torrent were towed from the scene, while the Ford had damage to the passenger door and club cab door, but was driven from the scene.
The male driver of the Ford and his passenger, a young boy, were not injured. The driver of the Torrent, an older man, and the driver and four children in the Santa Fe were not injured either.
“Nobody complained of any injuries, so that’s amazing,” Hale said.
The Torrent came to rest in the middle of the intersection, shutting down one northbound and one southbound lane of River Road, and the center turn lane on Riverside Drive. Traffic was impacted for about 30 minutes as police officers and firemen directed traffic and cleaned up the scene.
Hale advised drivers to be vigilant while driving, and pay attention to the traffic signals,
“We don’t call these things accidents,” Hale said, “we call these things crashes, because the guy ran a red light.”
The driver told police he was talking his young passenger, Hale said, which means he may not have been paying attention, and keeping his eyes and head in the traffic.
St. George Police Department and the St. George Fire Department 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.
A three-car accident snarled lunchtime traffic Monday at River Road and Riverside Drive, St. George, Utah, June 1, 2015 | Photo by Julie Applegate, St. George News
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Looks like the guy in the mini van was going pretty fast to do that kind of damage, considering the light would have just barely turned green.
Not true. The truck was able to drive away, so odds are the van was just starting and accelerating up from a light that had just turned green. Driver of the truck mysteriously missed the fact that the light had been yellow just prior to turning red, and yet still had time to decide to not stop and continue through the RED light.
If the driver of the red Ford was driving “St George Style” he was going at least 50 mph. Too bad he wasn’t hitting 60 – he could have cleared the intersection. Live and learn.