LEHI, Utah — Picture this, you’re driving on I-15 and out of nowhere, a work zone sign comes crashing into your car. That’s what a Lehi man says happened to him while he was on the way to work.
“In my head I was thinking, just gotta get to work quick. It was interesting because it didn’t seem that windy at all,” said Michael Powell.
Monday’s accident came as a surprise to Powell, who says it really wasn’t windy outside. Around 9 a.m., while on his way to work near the airport, Michael was traveling Northbound on I-15, getting onto the I-80 Westbound exit, when out of nowhere, an orange work zone sign smashed into the front of his car.
“My first thought when I saw the sign was is this gonna come through my windshield, I was really scared for my life for a little bit," Powells said. "Didn’t want to get hit by a sign, so I tried swerving and it ended up hitting the front left side of my car instead."
Michael took pictures and filed a police report a few hours later. He is working with UDOT and even turned to the popular online community Reddit for advice.
“People were really helpful on there, giving us good information,” said Powell.
UDOT spokesperson John Gleason says he took the right actions.
“If you are involved in any type of incident on the freeway that causes damage to your car, pull off to the next exit, we don’t want people stopping on the freeway itself, it’s just too dangerous, but pull over at the next exit when its safe and call in and make a police report,” said John Gleason.
Michael unfortunately had just got his car back from the shop, and now has to take it back in.
“Probably, it’s gonna cost a couple hundred dollars, maybe close to $1,000, it’s a lot of damage to the front end of my car,” said Powell.
Since the sign was from a work zone, the bill will likely go through the contractor’s insurance.
“If it’s a work zone, then that would be a contractor they would file a claim with. If it was determined that the damage was a result of negligence on the contractor, that’s how they’d determine any type of responsibility there,” said Gleason.
Michael is hoping he can get his car fixed once and for all.
“We’ve heard a lot of stories like these of things not getting resolved the way they should, and people end up having to pay out of pocket anyway,” said Powell.
Michael filed a police report and also is in contact with UDOT to find out the next steps in filing a claim with the contractor.
