PARLEYS CANYON, Utah (ABC4) – Troopers were able to thwart a wrong-way DUI driver from causing deadly damage on Wednesday night.
Utah Highway Patrol (UHP) says the incident happened in Parleys Canyon along I-80.
Deputies say the truck driver traveled the wrong way from milepost 128 to 137 before being caught. Officials say the suspect was driving under the influence.
“Thankfully no one was hurt!” says UHP Trooper Jeff Nigbur.
Recently, UHP held a press conference to address the disturbingly high number of wrong-way crashes throughout the state. UHP says calls reporting wrong-way drivers have gone up 49 percent from last year.
Troopers say most of these crashes appear to be caused by impaired drivers.
“It’s not illegal to drink in the state of Utah, but we can’t get behind the wheel when we’re intoxicated or things like this happen,” says Nigbur.
John Gleason of the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) says they’re working on ways to develop technology and measures to better detect where wrong-way crashes are happening and how to prevent them.
Both UDOT and UHP say they’re constantly working to improve Utah road safety for drivers in the future.
