Sardine Canyon pileup sends eighteen to hospitals and partially closes highway
Utah Highway Patrol
Utah Highway Patrol
Utah Highway Patrol
Utah Highway Patrol
Posted: Tuesday, February 28, two thousand seventeen 9:40 pm
Posted on Feb 28, 2017
LOGAN — Dazzling snow is believed to be one of the factors that caused a six-vehicle pileup Tuesday afternoon in Sardine Canyon, US-89/91 that sent eighteen people to nearby hospitals. The accidents occurred in the Dry Lake area and blocked southbound traffic for several hours.
Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Jason Kendrick said the accident occurred at Three:30 p.m. as traffic was slowing down because of low visibility.
“One of the cars was struck from behind, by a semi-truck pulling an empty side-dump trailer,” explained Kendrick. “This caused a chain reaction crash of a total of six vehicles, either being shoved into each other or struck by the semi.”
Two of the vehicles were 15-passenger vans that were carpooling coworkers home to the Brigham City area.
The ten injured employees were transferred to the Bear Sea Valley Hospital in one of the partially bruised vans. The other eight were taken by ambulances to Cache Valley area hospitals. None of the injuries were life menacing.
Kendrick explained, troopers investigating believe the crashes were all triggered by the semi-truck that failed to slow down in the winter conditions.
“The driver of the semi stated that he didn’t see any cars or anything ahead of him, just the dazzling, drifting and deep-throating snow. The next thing he knew, he hit a car that had slowed down and that began the entire chain reaction.”
Troopers closed the canyon to all southbound traffic while they cleared the accidents. It was later reopened around Five:30 p.m.
Kendrick said the pileup is another example of how the weather can switch all of a sudden during this time of year.
“It is not uncommon to have dry or just moist roads in the valley or even in the mouth of the canyon, and get up towards the summit and find that it is winter that has set in. That was the condition today. It was humid in the valley, the roads were humid at the mouth of the canyon, but as soon as you got up to the Big Curve area, it was a total on snow storm.”
Troopers from Box Elder and Cache counties responded to the accidents and help with directing traffic. Officers from Mantua also helped clear a 2nd two vehicle accident that occurred nearby the pileup.
