NORTH SALT LAKE, Utah — The day after the Fourth of July holiday weekend has proven to be deadly on roads across Utah.
Three vehicle deaths were reported overnight and early Tuesday morning.
Just before 4:45 a.m., a crash involving a Coca-Cola truck left a woman dead in Millcreek at 4500 South Highland Drive. Police have identified the woman at 74-year old Linda Shelton Beeman from Millcreek.
Unified police said for an unknown reason, the driver of a car heading southbound on Highland Drive drove underneath the semi truck as it was pulling out of a parking lot.
The driver of the truck notified police of the accident, telling them that he believed the car was going to stop at a traffic light about a block away. Instead, the driver allegedly sped through the light before hitting the truck and splitting the car in half.
"We're begging people to please slow down. People are speeding at high, excessive speeds. We need to slow down," pleaded Sgt. Melody Cutler with the Unified Police Department.
The area around the Highland Drive crash is expected to be closed for several hours.
In North Salt Lake, a motorcyclist was killed when they apparently lost control while getting onto Interstate-15 near US-89, hitting a barrier and overturning into traffic where they were by two cars. Utah Highway Patrol officials said the person on the motorcycle died at the scene and that speed is considered to be a factor in the accident.
Video below shows accident scene in North Salt Lake where motorcyclist was killed
One person was also killed in South Ogden in a crash at Washington Boulevard and 1050 East. Police are unsure what caused the accident and are continuing their investigation.
Our Troopers were out working hard this July 4th weekend. Unfortunately, there were five fatalities on our roadways, 2 of the 5 were motorcyclist and speed related.
— Utah Highway Patrol (@UTHighwayPatrol) July 5, 2022
Troopers stopped 2,503 motorist that were speeding and of those, 94 were in excess of 105 MPH. pic.twitter.com/DvC0M37nG0
In the last two accidents, early investigations reveal speed was a factor in the crashes.
According to UHP, troopers made more than 2,500 stops for speeding over the holiday weekend alone, and nearly 100 of those stops involved drivers exceeding 100 mph.
A crash at that speed is often deadly, so officers are asking drivers to slow down.
UHP also cited 80 drivers with DUIs.
"We have along way to go. Law enforcement can't do it alone. We need the public’s help and would rather see self compliance and self correction to make sure we don’t have fatalities," said UHP Sgt. Cameron Roden.
