SAR ropes team rescues driver whose SUV went off road near Cedar Breaks

CEDAR CITY — A driver was rescued Saturday night after his vehicle went off state Route 14 near Cedar Breaks.

Iron County Search and Rescue’s ropes team conducts a tactical rescue of a driver whose vehicle had gone off SR-14 near mile marker 14, Iron County, Utah, Jan. 2, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Utah Highway Patrol trooper Adam Gibbs said the incident, which reportedly occurred around 8:30 p.m., involved a Ford Edge SUV driven by a male adult.

Gibbs said the man was heading west and coming down the canyon on SR-14 when he encountered an oncoming driver who had just flashed on their high-beam headlights. 

“He said another car going the other way hit him with his brights, which made it so he couldn’t really see and he went off to the right,” Gibbs told Cedar City News at the scene.

The Ford Edge ended up at the bottom of a steep snow-covered slope on the north side of the road, nestled among some small trees.

The driver reportedly was not injured. Although he managed to exit the vehicle on his own, he wasn’t able to get himself back up to the highway, so the Iron County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue ropes team was summoned to the scene to conduct a tactical rescue.

Iron County Search and Rescue’s ropes team conducts a tactical rescue of a driver whose vehicle had gone off SR-14 near mile marker 14, Iron County, Utah, Jan. 2, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Once the ropes team arrived and set up their gear, two rescuers accompanied a Stokes basket that was lowered via a rope rigging system down to a place alongside the crashed vehicle, where the driver was being attended to by responding UHP trooper Daniel Nielson. 

After the rescuers got the driver wrapped in a blanket and secured him within the basket, they used it as a stretcher to bring him safely up to the roadway, where he was treated by Gold Cross Ambulance personnel. The man was later transported to Cedar City Hospital for further evaluation.

A tow truck driver was called in to remove the vehicle, which reportedly sustained front-end damage in the crash. 

Temperatures in the area at the time of the incident were around 10 degrees.

Traffic on SR-14, which was sparse at the time, was reduced to a single lane for more than an hour and a half while the scene was cleared.

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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