LEEDS — Both northbound lanes of traffic on Interstate 15 were shut down for about an hour during heavy rainfall Friday morning after two vehicles were involved in a collision.
At approximately 11:45 a.m. officers and emergency personnel were dispatched to a reported rollover on I-15 near Exit 22, Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Joe Pastor said.
Once officers arrived they found a gold Toyota Tacoma tipped over on the driver’s side in the middle of the interstate facing south. A white Toyota Camry, also facing south in the northbound lane, was smashed against the median .
The Camry’s driver, a woman in her 20s, and the man driving the Tacoma and his 4-year-old son were outside of the vehicles waiting for help when officers arrived. They “reported they were uninjured,” Pastor said.
Officers diverted traffic off the Interstate using Exit 22 into Leeds until the damaged vehicles and debris were cleared.
Once Hurricane Valley Fire and Rescue arrived, the Tacoma’s driver and his son were able to get out of the rain by sitting inside an ambulance.
The woman driving the Camry told officers that as she was heading north on the interstate her car started to hydroplane on the wet surface and she lost control of her vehicle, Pastor said. The car began to slide out of the left lane and clipped the Tacoma that was traveling in the right-hand lane.
The impact sent both vehicles into a spin until the Camry was stopped by the median and the Tacoma flipped and landed on its side.
Numerous police and emergency personnel were on scene while two tow trucks responded and removed the damaged vehicles from the roadway. All occupants were properly restrained when the crash occurred.
The woman driving the Camry was cited for failure to maintain a lane “because the driver was going too fast for the conditions at the time, which caused the tires to leave the pavement and slide along the water,” Pastor said.
The Utah Highway Patrol, Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Hurricane Valley Fire and Rescue and the Utah Department of Transportation’s Incident Management Team responded and assisted with the scene.
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 white Toyota Camry is towed after the driver hydroplanes during heavy rains and slides into a gold Toyota Tacoma that rolls over on the interstate northbound near Exit 22 Friday, Leeds, Utah, Feb. 17, 2017 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News
Traffic is backed up for several miles as officers and emergency crews tend to a crash on the Interstate after a car hydroplanes into another vehicle Friday, Leeds, Utah, Feb. 17, 2017 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News Numerous emergency responders assist with a rollover that closes both northbound lanes of Interstate 15 during heavy rains Friday, Leeds, Utah, Feb. 17, 2017 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News A gold Toyota Tacoma is towed after a two-vehicle crash on Interstate 15 northbound at Exit 22 sends two cars spinning in the roadway Friday during heavy rains, Leeds, Utah, Feb. 17, 2017 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News A gold Toyota Tacoma is towed after a two-car crash on Interstate 15 northbound at Exit 22 sends two cars spinning in the roadway Friday during heavy rains, Leeds, Utah, Feb. 17, 2017 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News A white Toyota Camry is towed after the driver hydroplanes during heavy rains and slides into a gold Toyota Tacoma that rolls over on the interstate northbound near Exit 22 Friday, Leeds, Utah, Feb. 17, 2017 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News
Numerous emergency responders assist with a rollover that closes both northbound lanes of Interstate 15 during heavy rains Friday, Leeds, Utah, Feb. 17, 2017 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News
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But the speed limit sign says “75!”