2 transported when car carrying 4 juveniles runs red light, hits another car in intersection, police say

ST. GEORGE — Police say a car carrying four juveniles ran a red light at a busy intersection Thursday afternoon, with the resulting collision sending two of the teenagers to the hospital.

Scene of a two-vehicle collision at the intersection of Westridge Drive and Sunset Boulevard, St. George, Utah, Aug. 27, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News

The incident, which reportedly happened shortly after 3:30 p.m. at the intersection of Westridge Drive and Sunset Boulevard, involved a silver Mazda Protege and a blue Toyota Avalon.

St. George Police officer Justin Laaksonen said the adult female driver of the Toyota was heading south on Westridge Drive. After having been stopped at the light, she had just entered the intersection as the light turned green, according to witness statements. At that point, the westbound Mazda ran the red light and struck the front end of the Toyota, spinning it around.

“Two of the juveniles were transported to the hospital for various injuries and two of them were kept by their parents for further observation,” Laaksonen said, adding that none of their injuries appeared to be life-threatening. 

The woman driving the Toyota was shaken up but uninjured in the crash, police said.

No citations were issued at the time of this report as the scene was just finishing being cleared.

Scene of a two-vehicle collision at the intersection of Westridge Drive and Sunset Boulevard, St. George, Utah, Aug. 27, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News

“At this point, we’re still investigating,” Laaksonen said. “A lot of the juveniles were a little too shaken up to get a complete story, so we’re going to give them a breather and then we’ll talk to them and determine what their side of the story is.”

Both cars sustained heavy front-end damage and needed to be towed from the scene. Multiple airbags were deployed in the Mazda. Laaksonen said the four teenage occupants all told police they had been wearing their seat belts.

Traffic along Sunset Boulevard was impacted for about an hour while the scene was cleared, with one of the two westbound lanes being temporarily closed and left turns being restricted. 

Responders at the scene included personnel from the St. George Police Department, St. George Fire Department, and Gold Cross Ambulance.

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

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.

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

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!