SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - Rubbernecking is the cause of 20 percent of crashes in Utah. The Utah Highway Patrol is trying to end these crashes with a new standard for crash victim's to pull off to the nearest exit before calling police.
The announcement was made Thursday, which was one day before Utah's first significant snowfall.
Slick conditions played a roll in 90 slide-offs and crashes in Salt Lake, Utah and Davis Counties by 6:00 p.m. Friday and as the temperature drops the snow will stick to the roads.
An ABC 4 crew hit the road to get a firsthand look at road conditions.
Driving east along I-80 about a quarter of a mile east of the I-215 loop the crew came upon a crash. The impact was strong enough to gouge a hole in the driver's side door and send the driver to the hospital.
"Most people are flying down the fast lane," said Dealership Towing driver, Jon Dale. He is towing the broken car away as quickly as possible from a slick road. It would be his third car tow on Friday at around 11:00 a.m.
This crash comes one day after UHP's big announcement. "They'll rubber neck. They'll look and then boom another crash occurs," said Utah Highway Patrol.
The days of handling a crash on the interstate is over. From now on, state leaders are asking crash victim's to call 911 and then to drive to the nearest exit.
"If we can clear up that initial crash as quickly as possible we will prevent the second crash, the third crash so on and so forth," said Utah Highway Patrol.
Below is a list of places to get live updates from UDOT.
UDOT Phone line:
801-887-3700
UDOT website:
UDOT.Utah.gov
Mobile App:
Search for UDOT Traffic on your phone
