SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Feb. 1, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Utah Highway Patrol investigators suspect impaired driving may be responsible for a fatal wrong way crash on Interstate 15 early Wednesday morning.
According to UHP spokesman Sgt. Cameron Roden, the crash occurred about 3 a.m. when a driver, identified as an adult female, entered I-15 from Highway 89 and headed south in the northbound lanes before colliding head-on with an oncoming vehicle.
The male driver of that oncoming vehicle was killed in the crash, Roden said. The driver of the wrong way vehicle was transported to a local area hospital in life-threatening condition and has since been upgraded to serious, non-life-threatening condition.
Northbound traffic had to be diverted for nearly four hours until investigators could clear the crash scene.
Both drivers were alone in their vehicles, and were wearing seat belts, a UHP news release says.
Alcohol is being investigated as a contributing factor in this case, the update says.
In 2022, UHP reports 24 wrong-way driving cases were investigated statewide, and seven were fatal. As an agency, UHP responded to 16 of those cases, five of which were fatal.
So far in 2023, three wrong-way incidents have been investigated, all by Utah Highway Patrol. Wednesday’s case was the first wrong-way fatal of 2023.
Gephardt Daily will update the story as more information becomes available.
