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Driver bounces over boulder field off I-15 but averts 7 years bad luck in mirror-aculous crash

Utah Channel 3

WASHINGTON COUNTY — A driver went off the edge of Interstate 15 Saturday morning, sending his car crashing down a steep, boulder-filled hillside.

Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Larry Mower said the incident was initially reported at approximately 7:30 a.m. by a passing motorist on the southbound side of the interstate.

Scene where a white Pontiac Grand Prix left the east side of northbound Interstate 15 near mile marker 36, Washington County, Utah, Aug. 18, 2018 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News

Mower said the initial information provided to dispatchers had given mile marker 33 as the approximate location, but the northbound car had actually left the road a short distance south of the exit located at mile marker 36.

“Initially, the information we got said it was three miles to the south of this location, so we had a little bit of a hard time finding it, because as you can see there’s nothing that looks like there was a wreck up here,” Mower said, noting that there were no skid marks or other telltale signs indicating a car had left the roadway.

UHP troopers and Washington County Sheriff’s deputies searched the area for nearly an hour until one deputy finally spotted the wrecked vehicle, a white Pontiac Grand Prix, nearly 100 feet from the interstate itself and approximately 50 feet down a steep and rocky hill.

“She just had a nagging feeling to keep looking,” Mower said of the deputy who made the discovery. “She was out of her truck and walking along the ridgeline when she found it.”

Responders arrived to find the adult male driver of the Pontiac sitting on a large rock outside the car holding his phone, Mower said, adding that the driver was the vehicle’s only occupant.

The man was taken by ambulance to Dixie Regional Medical Center for treatment of injuries that did not appear to be serious.

“The driver is doing really well,” Mower said. “He complained of pain on the left side from his shoulder to his foot, but he was able to climb up the cliff under his own strength, so that’s a good sign.”

“The airbags saved him,” Mower added.

The driver, who appeared to be in his 20s, is a resident of Mexico who has family in the Southern Utah area, Mower said, adding there was a bit of language barrier involved since the man didn’t speak English.

A large unbroken mirror in the trunk of a white Pontiac Grand Prix that left the east side of northbound Interstate 15 near mile marker 36, Washington County, Utah, Aug. 18, 2018 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News

“But I speak a little bit of Spanish, and I was able to understand what he was saying and he said that his left front tire had gone flat and it caused him to lose control of the car and he veered off and went over the cliff,” Mower said, adding that there were no obvious signs of impairment. “There’s nothing to indicate drugs or alcohol or any foul play or anything like that,” he said.

No citations were issued.

As tow truck operators were removing the vehicle from the scene, the car’s trunk was opened to make sure there were no valuables inside.

The trooper and the tow truck operators were visibly surprised to see what was inside the trunk. It was virtually empty except for a large mirror in a wooden frame, remarkably and completely intact.

This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.

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Email: jrichards@stgnews.com

Twitter: @STGnews

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