LEEDS — Two Chicago residents traveling to Las Vegas beat the odds Wednesday after their SUV drifted, hit a cable barrier along Interstate 15, and managed to get hung up along the top rung of the barrier.

Authorities credited the steel cable system placed along the center median for saving the motorists’ lives and keeping the car from crossing over into oncoming traffic.

The wreck occurred just before 3 p.m. on southbound I-15 at milepost 22.

“He just drifted off the road, hit the cable barrier, and took out  about 500 feet of cable barrier,” Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Larry Mower said. “It went up on the barrier, somehow came off the barrier, then he steered back and went on the barrier again. He hit the culvert…which caused him to spin around.”

UHP Trooper Grant Hintze added, “If that cable barrier hadn’t been there, we would have had a fatal (crash) today.”

Cable barriers, guardrails, and concrete barriers are all used to keep vehicles from leaving the roadway and to mitigate crash severity when cars do leave the road, according to the Utah Department of Transportation.

No injuries were reported to either occupant, who were both wearing a seat belt. Air bags were deployed in their rental Jeep Liberty during the crash.

The Jeep was hung up on the cable barrier and it took a tow truck approximately 30 minutes to get it off the cable. Traffic was slowed through the area in both directions for over an hour while investigators processed the scene and the wreck was cleaned up.

Mower said the driver was issued a citation for failure to maintain a lane. Units from the Utah Highway Patrol, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Hurricane Valley Fire and Rescue and Utah Department of Transportation responded.

This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.

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