PARLEYS CANYON, Utah, March 17, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — The Utah Highway Patrol located and apprehended a wrong-way driver early Thursday morning on Interstate 80 in Parleys Canyon.
“Thankfully no one was hurt!,” says a tweet from UHP Major Jeff Nigburg. “Wrong way truck made it from MP 128 to 137 up Parleys Canyon.”
Multiple callers reported the truck for reckless driving, Sgt. Cameron Roden, UHP, told Gephardt Daily.
“We got calls that it possibly hit the barrier and hit some cones, and then eventually we received some calls that the vehicle was traveling the wrong way, heading east in westbound lanes,” Roden said.
“We had individuals that kept calling about this vehicle, and the vehicle ended up stopping as officers were getting close to intercepting it. The vehicle ended up stopping up just around the Lambs Canyon area.
“Officers were able to locate it and begin an investigation which led to an arrest being made for suspicion of impaired driving.”
Officers located the driver at about 1 a.m., Roden said, adding the vehicle may have stopped due to a flat tire. Troopers questioned the driver, then made an arrest.
Multiple wrong-way crashes have resulted in fatalities in the past few weeks, Roden said. Most wrong-way drivers catch their mistake and turn around. Most fatalities involve an impaired driver, under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, since they are less likely to catch their mistake.
“Statewide, we’re probably getting close to 50 wrong-way drivers statewide so far this year.
Most end up correcting their mistake when they notice they’re going the wrong way, though. It’s the impaired ones that continue and, a lot of times, that caused these accidents and fatalities.”
Roden said it was fortunate the Parleys Canyon wrong way driver did not end up in a collision.
