Driver seriously injured when car zigzags across median, hits multiple semis on I-15

Scene of a collision on Interstate 15 involving a white Hyundai Elantra and two semitractor trucks, Iron County, Utah, July 30, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY  — A woman was seriously injured in a crash on Interstate 15 north of Cedar City early Thursday morning.

Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Adam Gibbs said the incident occurred at around 12:30 a.m. and involved a white Hyundai Elantra passenger car being driven by a woman in her mid-20s.

Gibbs said investigators suspect the woman may have fallen asleep, causing her car to enter the center median near mile marker 70 just south of the Summit exit.

“She drifted into the median, overcorrected, and came back on the road and rear-ended a semi on the northbound side,” Gibbs told Cedar City News, adding that the semitractor belonged to the company that is currently doing surfacing work on that stretch of I-15.

“She then crossed through the median and hit a semi going southbound, which spun her around,” Gibbs added. “She crossed back through the median and came to rest on the northbound shoulder.”

Scene of a collision on Interstate 15 involving a white Hyundai Elantra and two semitractor trucks, Iron County, Utah, July 30, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Responding emergency workers extricated the woman from the wrecked vehicle, after which she was transported via Gold Cross Ambulance to the hospital for treatment of injuries that were believed to be serious.

Gibbs said the woman was not wearing her seat belt at the time of the crash, which may have exacerbated her injuries.

“I believe she went too far after the first impact due to not having her seat belt fastened,” he said. “It threw her out of the seat, so she couldn’t get the car stopped.”

Neither semi driver was injured, but both vehicles appeared to be at least moderately damaged, one at the back end of its trailer and the other on the front end of the cab. Meanwhile, the Hyundai sustained heavy damage, with multiple airbags deployed, and needed to be towed from the scene.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

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