CEDAR CITY — The occupants of two vehicles were injured Tuesday afternoon when a semitractor-trailer carrying a load of 24-inch polyethylene pipe tipped over and crashed on state Route 56 in Iron County.
Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Randy Riches said the incident occurred at about 2:15 p.m. near mile marker 44 on SR-56, just past the Pinto Road turnoff.
Riches said the driver of the semi, which was pulling a flatbed trailer and heading west, failed to negotiate a curve in the road just east of Pinto, causing him to lose control of the vehicle.
“It tipped over and all the pipe came off and struck two different vehicles,” Riches said. “One was a Jeep Cherokee and the other was a Lexus passenger car.”
Both of those vehicles had been heading east, he said, adding that there were no other occupants in the vehicles besides the drivers.
The driver of the Jeep was transported to the hospital via ground ambulance for treatment of unspecified injuries, Riches added. Meanwhile, the female driver of the Lexus, who needed to be extricated from her vehicle, sustained “significant” injuries and was transported via Intermountain Life Flight helicopter to St. George Regional Hospital.
In addition to Utah Highway Patrol troopers, personnel from Iron County Sheriff’s Office, Cedar City Fire Department and Gold Cross Ambulance also responded.
Traffic in the area was impacted for a couple hours while the incident was investigated and the wreckage was cleared from the scene.
“We had the road shut down to land the helicopter on the roadway,” Riches said. “We also did alternating closures for eastbound and westbound traffic during the investigation and then had to close it down a couple other times for a short period of time while we conducted our investigation.”
All three vehicles sustained significant damage and needed to be towed from the scene.
Riches said charges are being screened against the semi driver.
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Scene of a collision involving a semitractor trailer and two other vehicles on SR-56 west of Cedar City, Iron County, Utah, Aug. 31, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Utah Highway Patrol, St. George News / Cedar City News Scene of a collision involving a semitractor trailer and two other vehicles on SR-56 west of Cedar City, Iron County, Utah, Aug. 31, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Utah Highway Patrol, St. George News / Cedar City News Scene of a collision involving a semitractor trailer and two other vehicles on SR-56 west of Cedar City, Iron County, Utah, Aug. 31, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Utah Highway Patrol, St. George News / Cedar City News Scene of a collision involving a semitractor trailer and two other vehicles on SR-56 west of Cedar City, Iron County, Utah, Aug. 31, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Utah Highway Patrol, St. George News / Cedar City News Scene of a collision involving a semitractor trailer and two other vehicles on SR-56 west of Cedar City, Iron County, Utah, Aug. 31, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Utah Highway Patrol, St. George News / Cedar City News
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