I-15 Becomes Parking Lot After 55 Crashes Along Tech Corridor

LEHI, Utah – I-15 turned into a parking lot for drivers near Thanksgiving Point due to a reported 55 crashes along the tech corridor.

Those crashes were the bulk of the 84 that the Utah Highway Patrol responded to Monday morning.

“There’s just a lot of black ice,” said Mason Aldree, who crashed on his way to work.

Here’s a look at just part of the ice on the freeway this morning and a car that crashed in the chaos along the tech corridor on I-15 southbound. pic.twitter.com/hzBqchI1Ge

— Felicia Martinez (@FeliciaKSL) February 17, 2020

According to UHP, the major problems began at approximately 5 a.m. That’s when water from the fresh snow froze over and quickly turned into a commuting nightmare.

“I started to slow down and I just started to slide,” Aldree said. “I hit a car and then the barrier, and then someone else hit the back of my car.”

The impact caused his airbags to deploy. Thankfully, neither he nor the other drivers were injured. Their cars, though, had to be towed.

Driver tells me he hit black ice as he started to slow down this morning and that was it- he slid, hit the car in front of him and got hit by the car behind him. Thankfully they are all okay. Several vehicles being towed this morning. @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/VUjkvndtTt

— Felicia Martinez (@FeliciaKSL) February 17, 2020

Of the 84 total crashes statewide, one person was seriously injured after being ejected from a vehicle on I-80 near 1100 East in Salt Lake City.

Officials with the Utah Department of Transportation said workers were deicing roads overnight. However, the issues escalated quickly at the point of the mountain, and plow drivers had problems getting to the site quickly due to traffic.