Crash on I-15 that totals camping trailer followed by another crash involving a trailer

Scene of a single-vehicle crash involving a Hyundai SUV pulling a camping trailer on Interstate 15 north of Cedar City, Utah, July 23, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY — Two similar but unrelated single-vehicle crashes involving trailers were reported within a few hours of each other along Interstate 15 in Iron County on Friday. 

Scene of a single-vehicle crash involving a Hyundai SUV pulling a camping trailer on Interstate 15 north of Cedar City, Utah, July 23, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

The first incident, which happened shortly before 11 a.m., occurred near mile marker 64 north of Cedar City and involved a blue Hyundai Santa Fe SUV with an attached camp trailer loaded with camping supplies. The driver told Cedar City News that he’d stayed in Cedar City the night before but was heading to Colorado to do some fishing.

Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Ryan Bauer said the driver reported that his trailer started to fishtail out of control.

“The trailer started to sway, and then it caused him to kind of veer off to the right, and then the trailer overturned on him,” Bauer told Cedar City News. 

The vehicle ended up down a small incline on the right side of the roadway, the remnants of the badly disintegrated trailer still attached.

The SUV driver, who was the lone occupant of the vehicle, was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash and did not report any injuries. His pet chihuahua was also reportedly unharmed.

“We don’t believe crosswinds or excessive speed were involved,” Bauer said, adding that no citations were issued.

The vehicle and its trailer sustained significant damage and needed to be towed from the scene.

The second incident happened just before 2:30 p.m. near the northbound I-15 onramp at Exit 42, just north of the border between Iron and Washington counties.

Scene of a single-vehicle crash involving a Hyundai SUV pulling a camping trailer on Interstate 15 north of Cedar City, Utah, July 23, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Jake Hicks told Cedar City News that the incident involved a pickup truck pulling a utility trailer.

“It wasn’t a violent rollover – it slid sideways, went off to the right and then tipped over onto the passenger side,” Hicks said. “The trailer stayed on its wheels, but the trailer became disconnected from the truck.”

Hicks said when other motorists stopped to check to see if anyone was hurt or needed help, the two men that had been inside the vehicle had already walked back down the onramp and to a nearby gas station.

“It was two adult males in a company-owned truck, and they just didn’t know what to do after the crash. So they walked down to the Shell right off Exit 42 and just waited. We found them there and talked to them.”

Hicks said there was no suspected impairment on the part of the driver, nor did weather appear to be a factor. Hicks said he did not think the responding officer issued a citation, although he did not know for certain. Photos of that crash scene were not immediately available.

As in the other incident, both the vehicle and its trailer were heavily damaged, requiring a tow truck to remove them from the scene.

Traffic impact was minimal in both instances, as the wreckage was a safe distance from the edge of the roadway in each case.

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, 2021, all rights reserved.

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