Police: Semi runs red light, gets hit by SUV in Cedar City intersection

Written by Jeff Richards
October 14, 2020
Cedar City Police Chief Darin Adams directs traffic at the scene of a collision between a semitractor truck and a Honda SUV, Cedar City, Utah, Oct. 14, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY — Police say the driver of a semitractor-trailer ran a red light, leading to a collision with another vehicle at the intersection of 200 North and Airport Road Wednesday morning, marking the second major crash in two days at that location.

Cedar City Police Sgt. Tim Bonzo said the semi involved in Wednesday’s collision had been traveling westbound on 200 North, while the other vehicle, a Honda CR-V SUV, was going through the intersection heading north on College Way as it becomes Airport Road.

“We have a witness statement that says the semi went through the red light and the red SUV was coming northbound on Airport Road and struck the semi truck,” Bonzo told Cedar City News at the scene.

The female driver of the Honda was initially checked out by ambulance personnel at the scene before being transported to the hospital for injuries that were believed to be minor.

“She had airbags deployed on her, so that could have caused some injury,” Bonzo said, adding that the male driver of the semi was not injured.

The Honda sustained moderate to heavy front-end damage and was towed from the scene. Meanwhile, the semi had some damage to the rear wheel area on the driver’s side of the truck.

Cedar City Police Sgt. Tim Bonzo helps sweep up broken glass at the scene of a collision between a semitractor truck and a Honda SUV, Cedar City, Utah, Oct. 14, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

“You can see where some brackets are broken, where the mud flaps are, the wheel well is pinning against the tires,” Bonzo said.

The truck’s flatbed trailer, which was not loaded with any cargo, did not appear to be damaged at all.

Bonzo said the intersection has seen its share of crashes lately.

“This is one of the intersections in town seems to seems to attract problems,” he said.

Bonzo noted that while the sun being in a driver’s eyes is often a contributing factor on that stretch of road, the sun would not have been an issue in this particular instance since the semi had been heading west, away from the sun.

“Usually in the morning you’ll have accidents from people going towards the sun,” he said. “This one would have been more of an afternoon one, but maybe he just didn’t see the red light.”

In an unrelated collision at that same intersection Tuesday evening, just before 6 p.m., the driver of an eastbound Chevrolet pickup on state Route 56 / 200 North struck a Ford pickup that was turning left from 200 North onto southbound College Way, causing heavy damage to both vehicles. Only minor injuries were reported in that crash, Cedar City Police said, adding that the Ford driver was cited for improper left turn / failure to yield.

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

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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