SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah, April 21, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — A Bountiful man who initially survived a single-vehicle was killed when he stepped out of his truck and into the path of a tractor-trailer early Thursday morning.
Utah Highway Patrol said the accident happened in Summit County just before 3 a.m. when John W. Garner of Bountiful was headed east on I-80 in a white Dodge pickup. He hit a guardrail, traveled through the median, hit another guardrail, crossed the westbound lanes, hit a third guardrail, then finally came to a stop on the other side of the freeway.
Garner then exited the vehicle and stepped in front of a semi-truck which was traveling west on I-80.
Garner was killed on impact.
UHP Sgt. Todd Royce said it is not known why Garner hit the guardrails in the first place as the investigation into the accident is ongoing.
Gephardt Daily will have more on this developing story as information becomes available.
John Garner was a super hard working man. He put in many hours of work at Ace Hardware and countless various side jobs as a handy man. It is very likely he could have fallen a sleep at the wheel from being so tired. He will be very missed.
I had the honor and privilege to work with John and I can attest to the fact that he was a hard working man. Constently I would see him on his feet and in the store, even if he doesn’t work that day. We used to joke that we couldn’t close until he came in at least once. I guess now we’ll never close now… Anyways, all of our prayers go out to his wife, daughters, and mother. If any of them need ANYTHING then I hope they know to come to us for help.
I’ve known John since I was a kid.. He was a kind, talented, hard working man and will be missed by everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him.