SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah — A South Jordan man is recovering after the vehicle he was carpooling in was hit by a Utah Department of Transportation Incident Management truck last week on I-15.
The driver was cited for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle, despite it being rear-ended by the truck.
South Salt Lake Police decided to reopen the case after FOX 13 News requested additional details about the crash.
“Unbelievable to me that vehicles out there to control incidents are traveling at that kind of speed and causing another incident," said Theron Anderson, who was a passenger in the SUV. "I assume he’s going somewhere for something that’s gone on."
Anderson knows flashing lights and sirens mean drivers must move over for emergency vehicles. But he said the driver didn’t have time to react before the truck hit the vehicle full of volunteers on their way to a meeting.
They were exiting northbound I-15 to get on Exit 305 toward West Valley City when the vehicle was suddenly hit by the truck.
All three men inside the Ford Explorer went to the emergency room to get checked out following the crash.
Anderson said an Apple Watch he recently received as a gift came in handy as it automatically called 911 and emergency contacts in his phone after detecting the crash.
“Hearing aids flew off, hit something up front, my phone flew to the back, my glasses flew forward somewhere,” recalled Anderson.
A witness who was behind the crash stayed at the scene and shared dashcam video.
While it’s hard to see the exact moment of impact, the video shows the truck switching lanes to get off at the exit and then shows the SUV spinning after the impact.
South Salt Lake Police cited the SUV driver for failing to yield to an emergency vehicle. However, Anderson said there was no time to react and argues the truck driver was speeding and should be the one cited.
“I would hope that UDOT and Incident Management already have procedures in place to prevent this kind of thing from happening,” said Anderson.
A UDOT spokesperson said the incident is still under review.
