Holiday traffic jam leads to multiple crashes on I-15

Stock image | St. George News

WASHINGTON COUNTY — As vacationers head toward warmer climes for Presidents Day weekend, several motorists traveling through Washington County on Interstate 15 became involved in crashes.

Utah Highway Patrol stock image | St. George News

Utah Highway Patrol responded to an initial crash at approximately 3:30 p.m. Friday involving a three-car pileup at mile marker 30 on southbound I-15.

Just before the crash, the driver of a black Infiniti began to slow down for traffic ahead of him in the inside lane, UHP Trooper Lawrence Hopper said.

“A Toyota Camry was behind the Infiniti going normal freeway speeds and tried to slow down, but ended up hitting the Infinity,” Hopper said.

A man driving a Dodge Stratus from behind then hit the Toyota.

“There were no injuries involved,” Hopper said. “Everybody had their seat belts on.”

“It was more serious than just your minor fender bender,” Hopper said of the damage to the vehicles, noting that airbags deployed in the Toyota.

The drivers of the Toyota and the Dodge were cited for following too close.

As traffic backed up behind the pileup, Hopper said, several other minor crashes occurred along southbound I-15.

“It is due to the holiday traffic with it being a long weekend it’s getting heavy there on Interstate 15.”

As of Friday night, traffic was still backed up along southbound I-15 from between Kanarraville and Leeds.

Read more: Motorists may expect traffic delays on I-15 Friday evening

This report is based on preliminary 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, 2018, all rights reserved.

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3 Comments

  • cv_t-bird February 16, 2018 at 10:07 pm

    All these idiot out-of-towners coming to overcrowd St George & make our roads even more unsafe. You thought it was bad on a normal day, it’s gonna be 10x worse this weekend. Be careful out there and if you’re visiting town please don’t drive like an idiot and take your time getting places, we already have more than enough accidents on our roads and we don’t need you to add to it!

    • An actual Independent February 17, 2018 at 7:19 am

      I doubt that 5 out of town visitors will be reading this site while they’re here.

    • Striker4 February 17, 2018 at 9:27 am

      I don’t believe any out of towners will be reading this site on their cell phones as they’re passing through either

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