2 Dodges collide head-on in intersection as light turns yellow

CEDAR CITY — A two-vehicle collision at a Cedar City intersection Tuesday afternoon was the result of a moment of driver confusion regarding whether an oncoming driver was slowing for a yellow light, police said.

The incident occurred shortly after 1 p.m. at the intersection of Cross Hollow Road and state Route 56. The crash involved a red Dodge minivan and a white Dodge Ram pickup truck.

Cedar City Police Sgt. Nate Williams said the female driver of the minivan was facing west and preparing to make a left turn onto southbound Cross Hollow Road.

As the van driver was waiting for the traffic to clear, the light turned yellow, Williams said.

“From what we can tell, it looks like an oncoming vehicle in the inner travel lane was slowing down, but the white vehicle kept on proceeding through,” he said. “She went ahead and made her left turn, not seeing that vehicle.”

Scene of a collision between a Dodge minivan and a Dodge pickup truck, Cedar City, Utah, Nov. 10, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

The two Dodges collided nearly head-on, with the impact spinning the minivan 180 degrees and sending the eastbound pickup another 150 feet or so, its destroyed left front tire leaving a long, gouging drag mark across the asphalt.

Despite the significant front-end damage to the two vehicles, neither driver reported any injuries and nobody was transported or treated medically. Both the minivan driver and the male driver of the pickup appeared to be in their late teens or early 20s. Multiple airbags were deployed in both of the vehicles, which were later towed from the scene. A dirt bike motorcycle that was being transported in the bed of the pickup truck wasn’t damaged in the collision.

No citations were issued by police.

“Yellow is not a regulatory color. It’s just, be aware that it’s going to turn red,” Williams said. “We don’t have any indication that he ran a red light. She was turning on the yellow. It was just bad timing.”

Traffic in the area was impacted for approximately 45 minutes as crews worked to clear the scene.

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

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

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