Slick roads, fast drivers keep troopers busy for second day in row

SALT LAKE CITY — For the second day in a row, Thursday was busy for Utah Highway Patrol troopers, due mostly to drivers not minding the slick driving conditions.

Troopers responded to 154 crashes across Utah as of 5:20 p.m. Thursday.

"Nearly all of those crashes are due to either speeds too fast for conditions or following too closely. It's simple folks, SLOW DOWN and increase your following distance on wet, slick, snow-packed, and icy roadways!" the UHP tweeted.

A 20-car pileup happened during the afternoon commute on eastbound state Route 201 before 3200 West near West Valley City, UHP officials said about 5:45 p.m., shutting down the road.

Additional details about that incident were not immediately available.

But troopers could get a brief respite from the slick conditions this weekend.

KSL meteorologist Kevin Eubank said the storm was expected to wind down Thursday night in northern Utah as skies clear and temperatures drop into the teens.

Clouds will build back up Saturday ahead of a smaller storm on Sunday, Eubank said. An inch or two of snow is expected then in the Salt Lake Valley.

In Salt Lake and Utah counties alone by 10 a.m. Thursday, UHP troopers were called to a total of 95 incidents, which included reportable crashes, non-reportable crashes and slide-offs. A reportable crash is defined as one that causes at least $1,500 in damage to a vehicle or causes an injury.

The UHP reminds motorists to slow down during winter driving conditions, move over for emergency vehicles, and to move off the freeway to a safe location if involved in a minor fender-bender accident.

Also Thursday, troopers released the name of a woman killed in a crash near Panguitch.

About 6:15 p.m. Wednesday, a Nissan Altima was attempting to make a U-turn on U.S. 89 when it was T-boned by a Nissan Pathfinder while it was sideways in the road.

Tong Xian He, 72, from Jin Zhong, China, who was in the back seat of the Altima, was killed, according to the UHP. Two other occupants in the Altima were transported to Dixie Regional Medical Center in critical conditions.

from Deseret News http://bit.ly/2QTOmtJ