OGDEN, Utah — A Utah couple said that their truck and trailer were totaled after simply driving over an uneven section of road — one of two similar crashes on the same day this week that has prompted the Utah Department of Transportation to take a closer look.
Vicki Ivie said she, her husband and two others were traveling to Idaho on northbound Interstate 15, just before 11 a.m. Monday, when they encountered that uneven patch near mile post 343.
“The road was uneven and there was a pothole,” Ivie described during an interview with KSL TV on Thursday. “Then the trailer hit it and it came up off the road, and when the trailer landed, the truck was going one direction and the trailer was going the other direction.”
Ivie said that caused the truck and fifth-wheel to start swerving, and the trailer flipped around and struck the driver’s side of the truck.
According to Ivie and her husband, the impact bent the frame of the truck, totaling that vehicle as well as the trailer.
“We were all sure that either we were going to hit the cement barrier or we were going to roll,” Ivie said.
Ivie said she subsequently learned from the tow truck drivers that a similar crash involving a vehicle and U-Haul trailer happened in the same spot roughly two hours later.
Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Cameron Roden also confirmed the second crash happened just after 1 p.m. Monday, and that it had unfolded in essentially the same area in identical fashion.
According to Roden, troopers were not aware of any additional similar crashes along that section of the freeway.
“Anytime you hear about a situation like that, it’s just a terrible thing,” said UDOT spokesman John Gleason. “We want to avoid having crashes on our roads and we want to make sure our roads are always in good shape.”
Gleason said there had been a number of pothole issues along that stretch of the interstate earlier in the spring, but crews had repaired all of those.
“In this particular area, we weren’t aware of any issues, but it’s something that we’ll definitely take a look at,” Gleason said.
According to Gleason, a repaving project was set to begin in the area within the next couple weeks.
“We were well below the speed limit,” shrugged Ivie, who said she had experienced some lasting neck pain after the crash.
She urged other drivers — especially those hauling trailers — to take extra care around bridges and areas that have undergone repairs.
“And when you get to that place in Ogden, slow down!” Ivie said.
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