ST. GEORGE — Traffic was halted on state Route 18 after an alleged illegal U-turn led to a two-vehicle collision near mile marker 26 Sunday around 12:30 pm, troopers said.
The crash sent three people to St. George Regional Hospital with moderate injuries. One of them, a man in his 50s, was airlifted.
“The driver of a gray Honda Accord was driving north on SR-18 when he began to turn right onto East Sumac Drive,” Trooper Grant Hintze told St. George News. “Then, for reasons we’re still trying to determine, he tried to make a U-turn to go south on SR-18. As he crossed SR-18, a white Ford F-150 was traveling north at approximately 65 mph. The driver of the Ford swerved left to avoid a crash, but hit the Honda.”
The truck collided with the Honda, striking the latter’s rear passenger door on the driver’s side.
The driver of the Honda, a 19-year-old man, complained of chest and shoulder pain. His passenger, a female who was the same age, was drifting in and out of consciousness and complained of lower back pain, Hintze said.
The driver of the truck complained of chest pain after the accident.
“As a precaution, we called Life Flight to assist,” Hintze said. “He may have been shook up; he may have had a history of heart trouble. We didn’t know, so we thought we should treat it seriously.”
Hintze said the driver of the Honda may be cited for making an illegal U-turn.
The Honda is a total loss, while the truck sustained moderate damage – mostly to the front end.
Enterprise Fire Dept., North West Wildlands Fire District, Utah Highway Patrol, Washington County Sheriffs Dept., Veyo Fire Dept., and IntermountainLife Flight all responded to 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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