WASHINGTON COUNTY – A woman was taken to the hospital in serious condition Thursday night following a vehicle rollover in the Red Cliff’s Desert Reserve.
Around 9:30 p.m. Washington County Sheriff’s deputies and other emergency personnel were dispatched to the scene of a single vehicle rollover on what is commonly known as the Turkey Farm Road.
Upon their arrival, the deputies and others encountered a 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee had rolled and landed on its wheels. The Jeep had come to rest on the side of the road facing a downward slope. A few more feet and it may have ended up at the bottom of the hillside.
“While traveling south on Turkey Farm Road, the driver failed to negotiate a bend in the road, colliding with an embankment on the west side of the roadway,” the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Friday. “The driver over-corrected causing the vehicle to roll.”
The driver, a 26-year-old woman from St. George, was not wearing her seat belt and was ejected from the vehicle, resulting in serious injuries. She was taken to Dixie Regional Medical Center via Gold Cross Ambulance.
A passenger, a 36-year-old man, was wearing his seat belt and sustained minor injuries. He remained on scene for a time as police investigated the crash.
The driver was ultimately cited for driving under the influence, according to the statement from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
The Turkey Farm Road starts in St. George as Cotton Wood Springs Road and heads northeast into the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. While paved at first, it eventually gives way to compacted gravel and dirt.
However, part of the road is covered in loose earth as well, which can cause a vehicle to slide if a driver is not careful and attentive.
This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.
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A woman was transported to the hospital in serious condition following a rollover on the Turkey Farm Road in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. The Washington County Sheriff's Office confirmed the woman was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the SUV as it rolled, Washington County, Utah, Aug. 25, 2016 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News
A woman was transported to the hospital in serious condition following a rollover on the Turkey Farm Road in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. The Washington County Sheriff's Office confirmed the woman was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the SUV as it rolled, Washington County, Utah, Aug. 25, 2016 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News
A woman was transported to the hospital in serious condition following a rollover on the Turkey Farm Road in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. The Washington County Sheriff's Office confirmed the woman was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the SUV as it rolled, Washington County, Utah, Aug. 25, 2016 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News
A woman was transported to the hospital in serious condition following a rollover on the Turkey Farm Road in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. The Washington County Sheriff's Office confirmed the woman was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the SUV as it rolled, Washington County, Utah, Aug. 25, 2016 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News
A woman was transported to the hospital in serious condition following a rollover on the Turkey Farm Road in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve. The Washington County Sheriff's Office confirmed the woman was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the SUV as it rolled, Washington County, Utah, Aug. 25, 2016 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mori Kessler serves as a Senior Reporter for St. George News, having previously contributed as a writer and Interim Editor in 2011-12, and an assistant editor from 2012 to mid-2014. He began writing news as a freelancer in 2009 for Today in Dixie, and joined the writing staff of St. George News in mid-2010. He enjoys photography and won an award for photojournalism from the Society of Professional Journalists for a 2018 photo of a bee inspector removing ferals bees from a Washington City home. He is also a shameless nerd and has a bad sense of direction.