ST. GEORGE — Wintery conditions resulted in two crashes on Interstate 15 in northern Iron County on Saturday morning. Neither incident resulted in injury.
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First, a Nissan Rogue traveling northbound rolled near mile marker 126 down Pine Creek Hill at approximately 8:20 a.m. At the bottom of the hill, a slight curve to the right caused the Rogue to lose traction, sliding onto the median where it rolled a couple of times.
The female driver, the lone occupant, was not injured despite the vehicle being totaled. She was wearing a seatbelt. No citations were issued.
Roughly 40 minutes after, a truck jackknifed traveling southbound near mile marker 123 at roughly 8:20 a.m. A Utah Highway Patrol trooper on the scene said the driver lost control after an evasive maneuver.
“There was kind of an evasive action by another vehicle that (the truck driver) was uncomfortable with or trying to avoid,” the trooper said. “He said there was another little car that caught him off a little bit. He was making a little bit of a reactive maneuver to try and make more distance from them and just lost it.”
The officer said the male truck driver, who was around age 40, attempted to brake to give him more space but his empty trailer in tow lost traction. The driver was able to straighten out the truck and trailer without assistance. A service truck responded to repair damage to some airlines, but did not require further response and drove away on his own. Traffic was unaffected and no citations were issued.
As a winter storm system passed through, roads were left icy. In the afternoon, when Godfrey was interviewed, he was near Eagle Point Resort on highway 153. He described the roads as “gnarly.”
“It’s snowing hard,” Godfrey said. “Even with chains, two-wheel drive cars are struggling right now. I would say it’s at least a four-wheel drive, if not a four-wheel drive and chains. It’s getting pretty thick.”
The conditions continued into the afternoon, where freezing hail near Cedar City resulted in four individual slide-offs, including an incident where four vehicles slid off Interstate 15 near Cedar City.
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