Car Accident Near Cedar City Turns Fatal
Date: July 12, 2009
Location: Interstate 15 outside Cedar City
Type: Utah fatal accident, Utah traffic accident
A devastating Utah fatal traffic accident occurred yesterday morning near Cedar City, leaving the southbound lanes of Interstate 15 closed for nearly seven hours. According to KSL News, a family of five from California was driving south on the freeway around 4 a.m. when the driver quickly swerved to avoid hitting a deer. He overcorrected the Range Rover, causing it to roll several times. It landed in the middle of the freeway. A few seconds later, the driver of a Toyota 4-Runner crashed into the Range Rover, unable to slow down in time. The driver of the Toyota was then able to move his vehicle into the emergency lane. Shortly after, a pickup truck collided with the Range Rover. Unfortunately, this major accident took its toll on the commuters involved. Two people in the Range Rover, Olegario Angulo and his 4-month old daughter Assata, were killed instantly during the rollover. Although Mr. Angulo was wearing a seatbelt, his daughter was not in a proper child car seat and was ejected from the SUV. The driver of the Range Rover suffered serious injuries and was taken to Valley View Medical Center in Cedar City. Two other passengers in that vehicle sustained injuries. Two people in the pickup truck suffered injuries and were flown to Intermountain Medical Center.
Deer can be an extremely dangerous safety hazard for Utah drivers, especially during the early morning and late evening hours of the day. Associated Content has a list of ten safety guidelines to prevent deadly Utah deer collisions; here are just a few of tips they mentioned. Bear in mind that if you see one deer near the road, there will likely be more. Drive with your high-beam headlights when you can to illuminate the eyes of the deer. This will give you more time to respond. Most importantly, do not swerve to avoid hitting the deer. Hitting a deer head-on is much safer than swerving and losing control of your vehicle. Damage to your front bumper and windshield is preferable to a serious and potentially fatal accident.
