ST. GEORGE — A dog sprinting across the highway near Hildale caused two cars to drive off the road and crash Monday.
While damage to the cars were minimal, one woman was transported to the hospital with minor injuries from the crash.
After the dog ran across state Route 59 near mile marker 5 in Hildale, the driver of a pickup truck slammed on his brakes Monday at about 9 a.m., said Utah Highway Patrol trooper Grant Hintze.
“It wasn’t even a big dog,” Hintze said. “It was like a little chihuahua and the cars couldn’t stop in time.”
While the dog escaped the roadway unscathed, some of the cars on the highway weren’t so lucky. One car behind the pickup truck was able to stop in time, but a Honda Accord and a Toyota Camry crashed as a result of the sudden stop of traffic on the highway.
The Accord went off the right shoulder and struck a road sign, which slightly damaged the front of the vehicle. The Camry crossed into oncoming traffic, spun out and came to a stop on an embankment on the far left side of the road, Hintze said. No cars coming the other direction were involved in any crashes.
The 21-year-old woman driving the Camry was transported to Dixie Regional Medical Center because her arm was hurting, but she could move it, Hintze said. The other three drivers involved were uninjured and were able to drive their vehicles away from the scene.
As a result of the Camry running off the road, the tires came off of the rims, Hintze said. Family members of the driver were able to come and tow it away.
There aren’t going to be any citations issued, “unless I find that dog,” Hintze said with a laugh.
“People may have been following too closely, but there was nothing to cite anybody on,” he said.
Colorado City Fire Department and Washington County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the scene
This report is based on statements from police or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews | @SpencerRicks
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.
If you were a dog living in Hildale wouldn’t you try and run away………
Dog, goat, child, yes.
Love the above comment..it’s just a natural reaction to slam on. brakes or swerve.. I don,t brake for smaller animals.. I look in the mirror to see if they are road kill.. once got the skunk, ended up with fur lined muffler and had to head to the nearest car wash instantly..
I will never understand why somebody would slam on their brakes or swerve to miss any animal, let alone a chihuahua. I do realize that it is a natural reaction to some extent, but often times what would be a minor accident is made much worse by swerving. I was taught to never swerve for an animal. Hit the thing and deal with the damage later.
Hwy 59 from Hilldale to Hurricane is super dangerous as to just that…people following way too close, and the UHP trooper decides not to cite? ….anyways, No, you do not endanger countless peoples lives over a damn small animal
The Chihuahua was trying to get back to the border, and as usual caused a few problems while here.
Love the catchy title to this story. Once again, awesome job Spencer Ricks, thumbs up. Glad no body was hurt!