Witness describes efforts to save driver in deadly head-on collision in Lake Point

LAKE POINT, Tooele County — A woman is dead, and a man is in critical condition after a head-on collision Tuesday near just off Interstate 80.

The woman was identified by the Utah Department of Public Safety Thursday as Sherrie Ivie, 69, of Grantsville.

Cpl. Luis Silva with Utah Highway Patrol said Ivie killed was driving an SUV, heading east to get on the westbound I-80 ramp and crossed the center line, colliding head-on with a pickup truck. Ivie died from injuries in the collision.

The driver of the truck was flown to a hospital in critical condition, Silva said.

One bystander told KSL TV that there wasn’t much time to get the man out before the cab and engine were engulfed in flames. He heard the impact and saw car parts flying everywhere, so he got out of his own vehicle to check on everyone involved.

The bystander said he saw the truck driver was seriously injured, and the truck was on fire. He said he flagged down a dump truck driver and asked them for an extinguisher, then kept the flames at bay as another man helped to get the driver out. Shortly after that, the engine and cabin of the truck burned.

UHP officials said their actions, and a seatbelt, likely saved the driver’s life.

“Because of the damage to the vehicle and the way the collision occurred against the vehicle, had he not been wearing his seatbelt, he definitely would have been dead from the collision,” Cpl. Sterling Saiz with UHP said.

Officials reported there are no initial indications as to why the SUV driver crossed over into oncoming traffic. But they did have one added warning for drivers — please don’t use the emergency turnarounds to get out of a traffic backup.

They said somebody did that down the road during this crash, which caused another wreck, and only made things worse.