ST. GEORGE — Shortly before sunrise, the driver of a Ford Mustang drifted into traffic on state Route 17 near Toquerville and struck an oncoming Honda passenger car traveling in the opposite direction, police say.
An emergency call went out at 5:52 a.m. to respond to the crash located at mile marker 4 along the S-curve portion of the road. Although initial reports indicated that an extraction may be required, efforts were minimal to free the injured.
“The driver of the Mustang was going too fast and was unable to negotiate the curve, crossing into the opposite lanes, hitting the other car,” Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Shawn Judd said.
SR-17 was closed for a period of time as emergency crews cleared the crash.
“The driver of the Mustang sustained injuries to his upper body and was transported by ground to the hospital,” Judd said. “The driver of the Honda had lower body injuries and was also transported by ground to the hospital.”
Athough there were no fatalities in Wednesday’s crash, there have been 86 road fatalities in Utah so far in 2020, according to statistics released in July by the Utah Department of Transportation.
The takeaway here, Judd said, is to slow down and pay attention to speed limits.
“This area is very well signed for advisory speeds for good reason because of the curves in this area,” he said. “If people disregard that, we can have some very serious crashes. When there are signs to reduce your speed you should diffently follow that.”
Charges are pending against the driver of the Mustang. They could include traveling at an unsafe speed and driving in an uncoming lane of traffic.
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