NORTH SALT LAKE, Utah, Mar. 12, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Heavy rains complicated by a coughing jag made for a huge splash and a cautionary tale Tuesday evening.
A small passenger car ended up 60 feet from the roadway and 30 feet into the water just west off the Legacy Parkway at mile marker 1 near Center Street at 7:30 p.m. The area is a retention basin for precipitation run off and was full Tuesday, officials said.
“Wet roads made for slick conditions this afternoon,” the South Davis Metro Fire Service Area said in posting a photo online. “Please remember to slow down and be safe. Luckily no injuries in this slide off. The driver was able to self extricate prior to EMS arrival.”
“A witness said it was pretty spectacular when it hit the water,” said Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Rick Shrader of the car’s impact with the small pond at apparent freeway speed.. “He was watching him drift to the right, thinking he’ll correct but he just went off the road. Don’t think he even braked.”
The driver and sole occupant was uninjured, and made his way back up the embankment. “He was lucky, he might have rolled if it wasn’t for the water,” Shrader said. A tow truck driver had to swim out to the car to hook it up and pull it out.
“The driver said he had a coughing jag,” Shrader said. He was cited for improper lane travel.
The car may be totaled, with a lot of apparent electrical damage, he said. “When they puled it out the headlights were still on, the horn and the windshield wipers going.”
