EAGLE MOUNTAIN, Utah, Dec. 4, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — The driver of a white pickup truck who investigators say neglected to check the westbound lane of traffic before entering SR 73, hit a westbound pickup and sparked a collision involving six vehicles that sent two people to the hospital.
The collision happened at about 3 p.m. Wednesday, Sgt. Spencer Cannon, Utah County Sheriff‘s Office, told Gephardt Daily. Emergency crews responded to Cory B. Wride Highway, state Route 73, at about mile marker 30.
“It was a legal passing zone, but it was not clear to pass, and the driver of that white pickup truck decided to pass,” Cannon said.
“The smaller black pickup had two occupants. They were stuck in the vehicle and had to be extricated. They were in serious condition, but we don’t believe it was life-threatening injuries. And once they were extricated, they were taken to a hospital by ambulance.”
A couple other victims “sustained very minor injuries, and they were looked at and released at the scene. There were six cars involved in this. Three of them had relatively minor damage. The other three had to be towed, and at least one of those, maybe two, are probably going to be a total loss.”
The driver of the white pickup had no visible or reported injuries, Cannon said. He also had no vehicle insurance. He was issued three citations, for improper passing, failure to yield right of way, and operating a vehicle with no insurance.
“That makes it really tough for everybody, but especially for those that are hospitalized, because it doesn’t take long to have hospital bills mount pretty high,” Cannon said.
“You know, I’ve been doing this a long time, and when I see people do that, and they don’t seem to have any apparent outward sense of remorse, it’s like, seriously, the world revolves around you. Well, you know what? It doesn’t, and this guy made a really, really dumb decision today, and it’s going to cost a lot of people a lot of money.”
The roadway, which Cannon said is a busy one, reopened about an hour and 40 minutes after the crash, Cannon said. He said he’s seen at least six fatal crashes on that section of roadway in the past decade.
