Skip the stop sign, T-bone a minivan

An accident on 200 North Friday morning damaged two vehicles, St. George, Utah, Oct. 9, 2015 | Photo by Ric Wayman, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A minivan on 200 North was T-boned by a small truck Friday morning, moderately damaging both vehicles.

The accident occurred just before 10:15 a.m. at the intersection of 200 North and 200 West in St. George.

An accident on 200 North Friday morning damaged two vehicles, St. George, Utah, Oct. 9, 2015 | Photo by Ric Wayman, St. George News
An accident on 200 North Friday morning damaged two vehicles, St. George, Utah, Oct. 9, 2015 | Photo by Ric Wayman, St. George News

A Honda Ridgeline was crossing northbound at the stop sign on 200 West, St. George Police officer Tyrell Bangerter said, when it failed to see an eastbound Chrysler minivan. The Honda struck the minivan in the middle of the passenger side.

“I didn’t hit her, she hit me,” Judith Cooley said by telephone Oct. 12, identifying herself as the driver of the Honda Ridgeline. “I may be at fault for not yield or whatever. I didn’t T-bone her. …  She didn’t have a stop sign, I had a stop sign.”

Cooley’s passenger, who identified herself by phone as Nikki Watterson, said Cooley didn’t run the stop sign.

“She stopped, and proceeded to go,” Watterson said of Cooley. “She (the driver of the minivan) hit us.”

“We were at the yard sale, we turned around, came to the corner, stopped. The minivan was at the corner across the street,” Cooley said, “I don’t know how many feet, I can’t judge it, we stopped, I proceeded forward, she hit me, she came straight at my vehicle, she hit my corner and proceeded to push me sideways.”

There were no obvious injuries, Bangerter said, no airbags deployed and all occupants were wearing seat belts.

The driver of the Honda was cited for failure to yield at a stop sign, Bangerter said.

Traffic was slowed for about 30 minutes while the occupants were checked by medical personnel from Gold Cross Ambulance and the van was towed away.

Aftermath of a collision at 200 North and 200 West in St. George, Utah, Oct. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Judith Cooley, driver of the Honda Ridgeline involved in the collision, St. George News
Aftermath of a collision at 200 North and 200 West in St. George, Utah, Oct. 9, 2015 | Photo courtesy of Judith Cooley, driver of the Honda Ridgeline involved in the collision, St. George News

Watterson and Cooley disputed Watterson was approached by or checked out by medical.

“Not one paramedic, not one person came over to see if she (Watterson) was OK,” Cooley said. People from a nearby nursing home came to see if they were OK, she said.

On Oct. 13, St. George Police Sgt. Sam Despain compared this news report to Bangerter’s accident report of Oct. 9 and said the two are consistent.

“Yes, she did hit the passenger side front bumper and the passenger side door,” Despain said of the driver of the Honda Ridgeline, noting that she was cited for failure to yield.

Anyone cited has the right to contest a citation, Despain said, and may obtain a copy of the police report from the Police Department.

This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.

Ed. note: Updated Oct. 13 to include statements from Cooley and Watterson Oct. 12 and Despain Oct. 13 as well as to include photos submitted by Cooley.

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery.

Related posts

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews | @NewsWayman

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

 

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

2 Comments

  • anybody home October 9, 2015 at 5:30 pm

    I remember that question from the open book driver’s license exam.

    Stopping at a stop sign in St. George is
    A- Mandatory
    B- Optional
    C- Depends on the weather

  • 42214 October 10, 2015 at 10:22 pm

    Hey Native Born, the guy blew thru a stop sign and caused an accident. Let’s just say he didn’t mean it and tell him it’s OK. We don’t want anybody held accountable for their actions. They probably had a good excuse. The jails are filled with innocent people, let’s not add another.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.