A concrete mixer crashed on northbound Interstate 15 near mile marker 12 after the driver was reportedly blinded by the glare of the morning sun, Washington City, Utah, July 13, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Utah Highway Patrol, St. George News
ST. GEORGE — One driver was seriously injured when two trucks collided on Interstate 15 in Washington City Thursday morning, a crash that brought northbound travel to a halt for nearly an hour.
Shortly before 8 a.m., emergency personnel responded to a crash on northbound I-15 near mile marker 12, just north of the Green Spring exit, involving a water truck that was struck by a cement mixer.
Emergency responders arrived to find both vehicles partially blocking both northbound lanes, with a driver trapped in the concrete truck.
Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Cameron Roden told St. George News the driver in the concrete truck, who was seriously injured in the crash, was not pinned in the vehicle but was unable to exit through the driver’s side door that was mangled in the collision and prevented it from opening.
Once firefighters arrived, he said, they freed the driver from the truck’s cab and he was transported to St. George Regional Hospital by ambulance. The driver of the water truck was uninjured in the crash.
At the time of the crash, the water truck driver was heading north along I-15 when a mechanical issue caused him to pull off the interstate and stop the truck near the right shoulder of the roadway. But the truck was partially blocking the right travel lane due to the road construction taking place at the time.
The driver got out and was placing reflective safety triangles around the truck to alert other drivers that there was a stationary vehicle partially blocking the roadway, Roden said.
At the same time, the driver of the concrete mixer was heading north and said he did not see the water truck partially blocking the travel lane until it was too late, adding he was temporarily blinded by the glare of the sun. As soon as he saw the disabled truck, he said he veered to the left to avoid a collision but clipped the back of the water truck. He then overcorrected to the right, which sent the concrete mixer crashing into one of the temporary construction barriers.
Both northbound lanes were partially blocked by the two damaged trucks until one lane was reopened for travel, followed by a second lane that was cleared more than an hour later, which heavily impacted all northbound travel.
This report is based on statements from police, emergency personnel or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.
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