Left turns blamed for crashes on St. George Boulevard, Mall Drive

An attempt at a left turn from St. George Boulevard onto 1000 East resulted in a four-car collision, St. George, Utah, Jan 10, 2019 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Left turns are considered the cause of at least two crashes Thursday on St. George Boulevard and Mall Drive.

Just before 4 p.m., St. George Police and other emergency responders were sent to the intersection of 1000 East and St. George Boulevard where a four-car collision had occurred.

The driver of a red Buick Regal was westbound on the boulevard and moving to turn left onto 100 East, St. George Police officer Ken Childs said.

The driver told police he had been waiting in traffic and then made the turn in order to beat a couple of cars.

The Buick turned in front of an eastbound gray Nissan Cube. The impact smashed in the front of the Nissan and sent the Buick into a northbound gray Volkswagen that had been stopped at the light. The Volkswagen was pushed into a white Hyundai Sonata that had been waiting to turn right onto St. George Boulevard. Child’s said.

Police shutdown 1000 East between St. George Boulevard and Tabernacle Street while they dealt with the crash and pieced together what had happened. Westbound traffic on the boulevard was slowed as it passed by the crash, but there were no other major traffic impacts.

The Buick, Nissan and Volkswagen each had to be towed away due to damage while the Hyundai Sonata remained operable and appeared to escape any major damage.

No injuries were reported in connection with the crash.

The driver of the Buick was cited for failure to yield on a left turn, Childs said

The second left turn crash occurred at 565 S. Mall Drive in front of Smith’s Marketplace at 5:45 p.m.

A blue SUV had been southbound on Mall Drive and was moving to make a left turn when it collided with a passenger car. Police at the scene did not go into further detail about the crash.

Northbound travel on Mall Drive was diverted at 2450 East by police while southbound travel slowed as it passed by the crash scene.

The scene was cleared by 6:30 p.m.

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Twitter: @MoriKessler

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8 Comments

  • Kilroywashere January 10, 2019 at 10:30 pm

    2019 kicking off a good year for local autobody shops. It use to be you could pound and pull out dents and smooth things out with bondo back in the day. But the way cars and trucks are built today, even a small impact can require extensive costly repairs, especially in the rear end where the bumper is supposed to protect vehicle integrity. But hey in the good ole days we didn’t have airbags that can rip your eyes out, and lacerate your face. We just bashed our heads on the front dash and steering wheel. Check the recall list!. The one time I needed an airbag it failed to deploy. Maybe I was lucky that day. YEP, now that I think about it, I was very lucky that day.

  • tcrider January 11, 2019 at 12:08 am

    If left hand turns are causing so many accidents everywhere,
    why won’t traffic control enforcement authorize more right turn only
    signs at heavy traffic intersections?
    There are many locations throughout the city that could use right turn only signs.

  • Cleo January 11, 2019 at 8:24 am

    One of the reasons we have so many left turn accidents is because we have lights on every corner but left turning signal lights are never working….Some days they are working other days they are turned off….so we have to play a guessing games to make left hand turns….If the lights are equipped with left turn signals then let’s use them…

  • DB January 11, 2019 at 3:40 pm

    Seems like many work, but only if there are enough cars queued up, at least two, such as at Dixie and 600W.

  • Red2Blue310 January 11, 2019 at 9:30 pm

    Traffic accidents are honestly one of THE biggest problem in this area.

  • jaltair January 11, 2019 at 10:21 pm

    In my opinion, people are on cells too much. I always see people with cells up to their ear and one hand on the wheel Their lack of attention causes many of the wrecks we see happening. Also, when you drive west in late afternoon and east in the morning, that sun is a killer. Sometimes I’ve wondered if people think the “magic underwear” keeps them safe. Maybe that’s why the woman pulled out in front of me the other day as I drove N toward Telegraph. Se didn’t look left, just right and then pulled out. luckily, my reactions are good. Red2Blue310, you are right. There are way too many accidents in this area.

  • Mike P January 12, 2019 at 10:59 am

    I laughed my you-know-what off when I read “Left turns blamed for crashes on St. George Boulevard, Mall Drive” Gee, ya think? I honestly think a day doesn’t go by without at least one idiot making a left directly in front of me. And I average at least one activation of my anti-lock brakes a month avoiding a T-bone because of that famous Utah Left. Sunset & Dixie is a good one also…..I caught on to that intersection a few years ago!
    You can say what ya want and make excuses for what’s happening here but it just boils down to two things. Bad driving and just plain Idiots who shouldn’t be driving.

    • Comment January 12, 2019 at 4:12 pm

      Many very aggressive selfish drivers here.

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