MORGAN COUNTY, Utah — A Utah Highway Patrol official says an investigation is underway after video shows one of its patrol cars driving into traffic.
The incident occurred over the holiday weekend on Trapper's Loop in Morgan County.
In dashcam video posted to Facebook by Derek Wolthoff, a trooper is seen slowing down and slightly moving to their right in order to turn on the road. However, the UHP vehicle immediately begins the left turn without checking first on the traffic moving in the same direction.
The vehicle behind the trooper, presumably driven by Wolthoff, smashed into the UHP car, which then forces a pickup truck hauling a boat to swerve off the road and jackknife into a road barrier.
Following the accident, UHP posted a warning on its Facebook page for drivers to slow down and heed emergency lights, but Wolthoff's video appears to show no time for him, or anyone else, to slow before the trooper made their turn.
"So grateful for all of my race experience to save our lives. It happens in a blink of an eye. Everyone walked away without injury. I literally have no idea what that officer was thinking," wrote Wolthoff.
A UHP spokesperson told FOX 13 that an outside agency is investigating the incident while they also perform their own internal review.
(A previous version of this story referenced a social media post that was inadvertently attributed to the Utah Highway Patrol, when it was, in fact, posted by the Mountain Green Fire Protection District. That post was the one that has been removed.)
