SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, March 12, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — A driver was impaled Saturday morning after he veered off Redwood Road, traveled through one or more yards, and struck a chain link fence.
The man was taken to an area hospital in critical condition with life-threatening injuries. His passenger, an adult, was transported in stable condition.
Witness David Williams saw the driver leave the roadway.
“I was driving southbound on Redwood Road and that Chevy Impala was right in front of me,” said Williams, who was interviewed on the scene by Gephardt Daily.
“All of a sudden, he was in the northbound lanes, and he went through three yards, a fence, and into a tree. The top of the fence railing is what the cut out of his chest.
“He impaled himself on the top rail of the fence… I never seen a brake light at all when he veered off.”
Williams said he drove to where the car had stopped.
“He was conscious when I got to him, and he was trying to get out of the car even though the post was through the seat, holding him to the seat,” Williams said. “I had to convince him he needed to stay there until EMTs got on the scene.”
Lt. Martin Kaufmann, Salt Lake City Police Department, said the call came to dispatch at 7:34 a.m.
“The vehicle was traveling southbound on Redwood Road and for some reason lost control,” Kaufmann said.
“He was impaled on the top pole of the fence…. The fire department brought their heavy rescue crew out, and extracted the driver from the vehicle. When the patient left, he was conscious.”
Kaufmann said the driver’s injuries were life-threatening, and the passenger’s were not. The cause of the accident is under investigation, he said.
Gephardt Daily will have more on this developing story as information becomes available.
