This St. Patrick’s day weekend, a 5-car accident occurred on I-15 Saturday afternoon alone. Two people were injured at the scene, though it left traffic jammed for a little while.
Around 2:35 p.m. the 5-car crash happened at 9800 South. The conglomerate began when one car rear-ended another, forcing the both of them to hit a pickup truck hauling a trailer behind him. The truck swerved and in doing so hit another car, injuring those two occupants. The truck continued through a fence, and ran into a southbound car on the frontage road.
The two injured passengers of that 4th car were both transported to a local hospital via ambulance. One person in fair condition, the other in serious condition.
Within the next hour, another two accidents occurred. One northbound, and one southbound on I-15, no one was critically injured. Joe Dougherty of the Department of Public Safety said that they were not sure if the crashes came about because of the slow traffic, or whether the circumstances were unrelated.
Then another accident happened, within 30 minutes of the previous two. Dougherty found this was DUI-related, and the driver of another vehicle shortly after was also found driving under the influence.
Utah is preparing for St. Patrick’s day with a DUI blitz. In Utah last year, there were 70 DUi arrests on the weekend of March 17th, and 34 accidents caused by alcohol impairment. So the police force around the state is preparing to be on the lookout for large numbers of drinking drivers. Sgt. Michael Irvine said, “We’re trying to catch these people before they hurt themselves or somebody else.”
From us at Christensen and Hymas, keep yourself and your family aware and safe on the roads with the after effects of a holiday like St. Patrick’s day.
Image courtesy of KSL.com