Tourists get unwelcome attention from another car; accident slows overpass traffic

ST. GEORGE — Tourists coming into St. George usually enjoy meeting the locals. But for four Japanese tourists getting off the freeway, the meeting wasn’t quite so welcome when their rental car was hit by an SUV that ran a red light.

An accident on the Bluff Street overpass of I-15 severely damaged two cars, but no injuries resulted. St. George, Utah, May 2, 2016 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News
An accident on the Bluff Street overpass of I-15 severely damaged two cars, but no injuries resulted. St. George, Utah, May 2, 2016 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News

The tourists were coming northbound on Interstate 15 about 1:20 p.m. and exited at the Bluff Street interchange, St. George Police Sgt. Craig Harding said.

“Four Japanese tourists in a rental car came off of I-15 and were going to turn left onto Bluff Street to go into town,” Harding said. “They had a green light, a southbound SUV had a red light and in fact stomped on the gas, according to witnesses, and went through the red light and hit the rental car.”

Reports of a third car involved in the wreck were unfounded, Harding said.

“There was not a third car. A wrecker just happened to be on scene and was a witness, and he had a vehicle on the tow truck taking it somewhere.”

While the accident was described by one witness as “a pretty good smack,” Harding said no injuries were reported. Both vehicles had to be towed from the overpass, and the road had to be closed for about 20 minutes.

Seat belts were being worn by all parties, Harding said, and airbags deployed in both vehicles.

The driver of the SUV was cited for failure to stop at the red light.

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

St. George News reporter Ric Wayman contributed to this report.

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Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.

 

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3 Comments

  • .... May 2, 2016 at 3:33 pm

    Wow this weird ladybug gets back in town and this happens

  • knobe May 4, 2016 at 7:47 am

    I happened to be next to the median at that stop light when I heard a loud crash noise &
    the next thing I saw was that SUV / mini van hurtling towards me then
    landing in the median stopping about 2 ft from my face .
    With cars to my right & other moving traffic ,
    There was No where for me to go even if I had super fast reflexes .

    Too many people still think yellow lights mean ” speed it up” instead of ” slow down ” .
    Both those vehicles were totaled so I’m hoping
    Mr Red Light Runner’s very expensive lesson will teach him the PROPER response to yellow lights .

    !

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