ST. GEORGE – A Southern Utah University student is lucky to be alive after a single-car rollover on Interstate 15 near milepost 19 late Thursday night.
Emilie Anthian, a 19-year-old student at SUU, had been in St. George having dinner with friends and was heading back to Cedar City in her Ford Fusion at about 9:45 p.m., her sister Camille Bahoravitch said.
“She just got caught in this rainstorm and slippery roads,” Bahoravitch said.
Though Anthian was driving carefully, Bahoravitch said, the car hydroplaned, slid off of the roadway and then rolled, landing in the southbound lanes of I-15.
“She flipped all the way onto the other side of the freeway into oncoming traffic,” Bahoravitch said.
One of the drivers that stopped to help was an EMT and was able to stabilize and help Anthian.
“Everything was thrown out of the car, all of the windows were smashed, and the doors were open,” Bahoravitch said. “It’s lucky she was wearing her seat belt.”
Anthian wasn’t seriously injured, but she was transported to the Dixie Regional Medical Center and treated for severe whiplash, along with minor injuries including bruises and cuts, Bahoravitch said. Anthian is now home recuperating.
Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Jesse Williams said a rainstorm had moved through the area just prior to the accident.
“There was some water on the road. The vehicle hydroplaned and went off the road to the left,” Williams said. “It looked like it rolled at least one time and came to rest on its wheels.”
Personnel from the UHP, Leeds Area Fire and Rescue, Leeds Area Ambulance and Washington County Sheriff’s Office all responded to the accident.
Bahoravitch said it has been a rough few days because she was friends with a young man who died in a head-on collision near Fillmore just two days ago.
“This week needs to be over, I think,” she said.
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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There have been alot of these lately. The first thing everyone wants to do is blame the drivers, though it may serve public safety for UDOT to investigate these stretches of road for additional drainage
I think it would solve the problem if we took the speed limit from 80 to 90. The higher speed will be safer