LEEDS – A man is lucky to walk away from a single-vehicle crash after his truck ran off the highway and continued crashing through a ditch Tuesday.
Around 8:20 p.m., the man was southbound on Interstate 15 through Leeds around milepost 23 when he reached behind his seat to adjust a bed for his pet dog, Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Jesse Williams said.
“He pulled the steering wheel a little bit to the left, he struck the concrete barrier in the center (of the roadway), rebounded off the concrete barrier and off the roadway to the right,” Williams said. “He went over the guardrail and went through this ditch, where the heavy impact is in the dirt, and came to rest about 15 feet past the ditch.”
A dark streak across the road marked where the truck came off the roadway and tore through the guardrail and then crossed over to the ditch. Part of a wire fence set back from the shoulder was also hit and torn out by the truck before it came to a stop.
The man was wearing his seat belt and the airbags inside did go off, Williams said. The man was able to walk away from the crash and declined care by responding medics.
“The truck’s a total loss,” he said. “We’re happy he’s OK.”
The dog also survived the incident unscathed.
The truck had to be towed from the scene. No citations were issued.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office and an ambulance out of Leeds also responded to the scene.
This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.
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At the scene of a single-vehicle crash where a truck went off I-15 near milepost 23 and crashed through a guardrail and a ditch. Despite the potential for serious injury, the driver walked away unharmed thanks to wearing a seat belt, responding Utah Highway Patrol troopers said, Leeds, Utah, June 13, 2017 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News
At the scene of a single-vehicle crash where a truck went off I-15 near milepost 23 and crashed through a guardrail and a ditch. Despite the potential for serious injury, the driver walked away unharmed thanks to wearing a seat belt, responding Utah Highway Patrol troopers said, Leeds, Utah, June 13, 2017 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News
At the scene of a single-vehicle crash where a truck went off I-15 near milepost 23 and crashed through a guardrail and a ditch. Despite the potential for serious injury, the driver walked away unharmed thanks to wearing a seat belt, responding Utah Highway Patrol troopers said, Leeds, Utah, June 13, 2017 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News
At the scene of a single-vehicle crash where a truck went off I-15 near milepost 23 and crashed through a guardrail and a ditch. Despite the potential for serious injury, the driver walked away unharmed thanks to wearing a seat belt, responding Utah Highway Patrol troopers said, Leeds, Utah, June 13, 2017 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News
At the scene of a single-vehicle crash where a truck went off I-15 near milepost 23 and crashed through a guardrail and a ditch. Despite the potential for serious injury, the driver walked away unharmed thanks to wearing a seat belt, responding Utah Highway Patrol troopers said, Leeds, Utah, June 13, 2017 | Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News
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Twitter: @MoriKessler
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.
I drove by this last night. Blasted through the guard rail as you can see.
its a good thing the guy was wearing a seat belt and that he was okay. there was a cop on the opposite side of the highway that had someone pulled over, and had seen the whole thing, yet finished with the person first before even going to the crash site. Glad to see what is really important to the cops here. Would rather give a person a ticket than make sure the people are still alive in a wreck.
I call bs. I think you’re making non-credible assumptions about what you saw.
Comments who the he!! are you to say if someone was there or not??? You always have an issue with someone that goes against what you think to be true or not!!! I personally find just about everything you say BS!!! I actually believe a cop would give out a ticket before heading to an accident, especially if they saw what happened and made a judgment call on weather or not they felt it was priority #1!!! Cuz you know thats what the police do they make judgment calls ALL THE TIME!!! You need to stop being such a bitter person, old man from the sounds of your comments!!! Stop calling people you dont know liars!!!
Nuff said
Hey here’s a idea , how about “tending” to your driving instead of your …* dog….if you need to tend to your dog pull …* over and stop so that you do not take out one of us on the roadway next to you….just stupid
Ed. ellipses: …*