SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah, April 20, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — Officials have identified a man killed in a crash on State Route 201 near 4200 West Monday.
The deceased man is Lance Budge, 25, of Saratoga Springs, said a news release from Utah Highway Patrol.
A white Ford F-150 pickup truck with two occupants was traveling westbound on SR-201 near 4200 West, or Bangerter Highway, at 10:10 a.m.
“The pickup was hauling construction supplies and lost a ladder in the middle lane,” the news release said. “The driver came to a stop in the far left lane to retrieve the ladder in traffic. A blue Honda Civic sedan with a single occupant was traveling in the far left lane (lane number one) and a black Honda Odyssey minivan with two occupants was traveling in the middle (lane number two).”
Traffic started to swerve to avoid hitting the truck and ladder in both lanes, the news release said. The blue sedan did not have enough time to swerve and rear-ended the pickup truck. The sedan was forced from the crash into the middle lane and the minivan rear ended the sedan.
“The minivan driver was unable to maintain control and hit the concrete wall on the left then rolled one time to the right,” the news release said. “Fire and medical units arrived on scene and began extrication and life saving measures. The injuries to the driver of the sedan were life-threatening. Medical personnel determined him to be deceased on scene.”
Budge was wearing a seat belt, the news release said.
The SR-201 westbound Bangerter off-ramp and on-ramp were closed until approximately 2:30 p.m., but have since reopened.
“UHP encourages those hauling materials in external locations on their vehicles to consistently check and double check that those materials are properly secured,” the news release said. “Rubber bungee-style tie downs don’t last forever, they rot over time due to environmental exposure and must be replaced often. For this reason, a more secure method of tying down externally secured items should be utilized.”
In this incident, road debris contributed to a fatal crash, the news release said.
“Motorists should expect to encounter debris on our state’s roadways,” the news release said. “Maintaining a speed at or below the posted speed limit, ensuring at least two-seconds following distance and looking down the roadway 12-15 seconds ahead of where you’re currently driving, are all ways to provide oneself more time to react to situations like road debris.”
