UHP Investigating Alpine Loop Crash That Left Cyclist Critically Injured

ALPINE LOOP, Utah – The Utah Highway Patrol is investigating after a bicycle and UTV collided on Alpine Loop Saturday morning.

According to a news release from UHP, the UTV was traveling uphill and the cyclist was part of a group coming downhill.

Around milepoint 19, they say the UTV was coming around a curve with limited sight distance. Cyclists were coming from the opposite direction. They said the first cyclist passed through safely, but the second cyclist collided with the UTV’s left side.

Steven Biringer said he was riding a few seconds behind the injured cyclist.

“Ran up to my friend and said hey, wake up, come back to us,” he said.

The man was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition. UHP said he had significant head, neck, and back injuries.

“He’s in the best care he can be and things look a lot better now than they did when I found him lying in that ditch,” Biringer said.

UHP said other cyclists told investigators they had seen the UTV driving aggressively before the collision. They said the vehicle was cutting corners and accelerating rapidly around curves.

“Preliminary measurements of evidence on the roadway indicate the UTV was not operating on the right side of the roadway as it traveled through the curve,” a UHP spokesperson wrote in the news release.

“When I heard afterward what had happened, I knew exactly what had happened, because it almost happened to me,” said Steve Mayfield.

Mayfield said he encountered the UTV coming around a curve before the collision.

“He was in my lane, so to feel safe, I had to go to the far end of my lane. Just the nature of the speed of it and where he was in my lane, I was really shocked and initially scared that I was going to be hit, so I moved out of the way,” Mayfield said.

A UHP spokesperson said the driver of the UTV has not been cited and they are still investigating.