Man taken to hospital after overcorrecting, rolling truck while entering I-15 in Cedar City, police say

Written by Jeff Richards
March 25, 2021

CEDAR CITY — A driver was injured Thursday evening in a single-vehicle rollover that occurred as he was entering Interstate 15 in Cedar City.

The incident, which reportedly occurred at approximately 6:45 p.m., involved a white and black Toyota pickup with an adult male driver.

Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Zach Todd said the driver was preparing to enter I-15 via the northbound onramp at Exit 59 when he left the left side of the roadway.

“He stated that he looked down at his phone, although we are investigating some other things,” Todd told Cedar City News at the scene. “He went off the left side of the road into the dirt, overcorrected and came back into the guardrail.”

Scene of a single-vehicle rollover on Interstate 15 near Exit 59, Cedar City, Utah, March 25, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

After striking the guardrail on the right side, the truck then came onto the interstate, where it flipped and rolled two or three times before coming to rest on its driver’s side in the rightmost lane, Todd said.

No other vehicles were involved.

Todd said the driver was able to extricate himself from the wreckage before responders arrived on scene.

“He’s been transferred to the hospital with cuts and injuries to his arms and upper extremities,” Todd said, adding that the man’s injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.

Traffic in the area was impacted for nearly an hour while the scene was cleared. In addition to the Exit 59 onramp being completely closed off, northbound I-15 traffic was confined to the left lane only in the area of the crash.

A tow truck was seen removing the heavily damaged Toyota from the scene at about 7:30 p.m.

Although Todd said no citations had yet been issued, he did note that the incident was still under investigation.

“We’re going to be investigating some things going on with this crash,” he said.

In addition to UHP, personnel from Cedar City Fire Department, Cedar City Police Department and Gold Cross Ambulance responded to the incident.

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, 2021, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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