Troopers stop wrong-way driver in Parleys Canyon
Mar 17, 2022, 8:10 AM | Updated: Apr 7, 2022, 5:06 pm
(Utah Highway Patrol)
(Utah Highway Patrol)
SALT LAKE CITY — State troopers say a wrong-way driver was stopped on Interstate 80 Wednesday night.
Major Jeff Nigbur with the Utah Highway Patrol said the wrong-way truck made it from milepost 128 to 137 on I-80 in Parleys Canyon before it was stopped.
No injuries were reported in the incident. UHP Sgt. Cameron Roden said the driver was arrested for suspicion of impaired driving.
The stop comes after a series of wrong-way crashes last week across northern Utah.
Two men were killed in a wrong-way crash on I-15 near 900 South in Salt Lake City on March 12, while the 29-year-old driver of a wrong-way car died after a crash near 6800 South and Mountain View Corridor.
Police were also investigating wrong-way crashes in South Salt Lake and Spanish Fork over the weekend.
Last month, a state trooper suffered minor injuries after using his patrol vehicle to stop a wrong-way driver on I-15.
UHP trooper intercepts wrong-way driver to get him off the road
Troopers said they’ve responded to more than 40 wrong-way crashes already this year, and they’re puzzled by the spike.
There were a total of 300 wrong-way crashes in 2021, and this year, troopers say they’ve already seen a 49% jump in crashes compared to 2021.
Troopers added the vast majority of people self-correct – meaning if they find themselves on the wrong side of the road, they recognize their mistake and quickly get off.
But those who aren’t so lucky can find themselves in a dangerous situation.
“I wish I could take all of you on scene; they’re brutal, they’re impactful, having to go do notifications to family members. It’s a horrible thing to have to do,” Nigbur said.
Utah Department of Transportation spokesperson John Gleason said they have 35 wrong-way detection cameras throughout the state, and they alert UHP once a wrong-way driver is detected.
Gleason added they’re looking into a task force with troopers to better track and map exactly where the wrong-way driver occurrences and crashes are happening in Utah, and then create an action plan to reduce them.
“I think everything’s on the table right now,” Gleason said. “Anything that we can do to enhance safety and reduce the number of wrong-way drivers — that’s definitely something that we’re going to look into.”
