Traffic slows to crawl after 4-car accident on River Road

A four-car accident blocked the intersection of River Road and 1450 South and sent one man to the hospital, St. George, Utah, Dec. 13, 2013 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – A four-car accident occurred 12:15 p.m. Friday at the intersection of River Road and 1450 South, resulting in transport of one person to the hospital, and severely impeding traffic.

The driver of a Chevy Tahoe SUV began to experience medical issues while traveling westbound on 1450 South Friday, St. George Police Officer Tyrell Bangerter said. The driver crossed into the River Road intersection against a red light and hit the back end of a Dodge pickup. The pickup spun around on impact and lost a load of material it had in the truck bed. The impact took off the tailgate and broke one of the back wheels off the truck’s axle.

The Tahoe next hit a Chevy Traverse SUV that was waiting in the left-turn lane, then hit the broadside of a Honda Accord traveling south through the intersection on a green light. The Accord spun out on impact. Both it and the Tahoe came to rest on the west side of the intersection, Bangerter said.

The driver of the Tahoe was trapped in the SUV and had to be extricated by the St. George Fire Department. The driver was also still experiencing a medical episode of some kind and was transported to Dixie Regional Center. The driver of the Accord sustained what police described as a minor hand injury, though did not require transport by ambulance.

All of the vehicles were severely damaged and required towing. Traffic through the intersection slowed to a crawl. The scene was completely cleared by 1:20 p.m.

The accident is still under investigation, Bangerter said. Police had yet to speak with the driver taken to the hospital about the incident, he said.

Ed. note: This report is based on preliminary information provided by the police and does not contain the full scope of findings yet to be determined.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2013, all rights reserved.

A four-car accident blocked the intersection of River Road and 1450 South and sent one man to the hospital, St. George, Utah, Dec. 13, 2013 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News
A four-car accident blocked the intersection of River Road and 1450 South and sent one man to the hospital, St. George, Utah, Dec. 13, 2013 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

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6 Comments

  • D Hodja December 13, 2013 at 3:14 pm

    As a person who has lived in ten other States and overseas for two years I just wanted to comment that St George drivers ought to slow down and drive less aggressively. It is super bad here and the police are apparently busy doing SWAT training but instead should be out writing tickets.

    • Don Quixote December 13, 2013 at 5:52 pm

      D Hodja… I agree with you, to a point.

      I would like to address the fact that, although you may have lived in other states, they may not have been as relatively “crime free” as St. George is.

      By this I mean, the ONLY times it seems that I ever see ‘Saint George’s finest’, is when it’s related to some sort of traffic incident (i.e. speeding, accident, etc.). However, I’ve lived in areas of this country where the police couldn’t care less about doing traffic stops for speeding, missing headlights, or running red lights… they actually had REAL crimes to attend to (i.e. gang activity, bank robberies, kidnappings, murders, drugs, hostage situations, etc….).

      As for your comment on drivers in St. George… they aren’t any different or any worse than drivers in other cities. The largest problem that I see, is that St. George is basically still a small rural town, that is trying harder and harder to grow up into a bigger town.
      Well, that and the fact that everyone here feels like they are so much more important than everyone else around them…

      I think if people are going to call themselves Christians, they better drive like it! 🙂 (but that’s just my 2 cents)

    • Ken December 13, 2013 at 6:56 pm

      I would agree, this city is very dangerous. There are so many drivers that are aggressive and are on their phones! The tailgating is truly unbelievable. It’s past time the police department gets out in full force and send a message.

    • bUB December 13, 2013 at 7:55 pm

      add to this the fact that the holiday shopping BS brings out even worse driving than usual

  • bUB December 13, 2013 at 3:26 pm

    fact is: this guy was a known hazard before this happendu7tu

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