Driver saved by seat belt during violent rollover in Gorge
MOHAVE COUNTY, Ariz. — Troopers say seat belt use saved a woman’s life after a violent rollover on Interstate 15 in the Virgin River Gorge Saturday morning destroyed the car she was driving.
Troopers and emergency personnel were dispatched to the single-vehicle rollover on northbound I-15 near mile marker 26 after a passerby called 911 to report the crash, which involved a white Nissan Versa that rolled off the right shoulder of the road, Arizona Department of Public Safety Highway Patrol trooper Tom Callister said.
“The passerby said the vehicle had rolled and no one was out of it yet,” Callister said, adding that the caller went back to check on the driver.
Upon arrival, emergency crews found the overturned vehicle down an embankment approximately 30 feet from the shoulder of the road with a single occupant, the female driver. She was treated by EMTs at the scene before being transported by ambulance to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George.
“We transported the 24-year-old female driver to Dixie with neck pain,” an EMT captain with Beaver Dam/Littlefield Fire and Rescue said.
The driver told investigators that she was heading north on the interstate when she thought she saw something in the left lane, Callister said, and she swerved to the right to avoid hitting the object.
The woman then overcorrected to the left, which caused the car to roll multiple times off the shoulder and then continue rolling down the embankment.
The Nissan, which was a rental car, was destroyed in the rollover and subsequently towed from the scene.
Callister attributes the driver’s minor injuries to her being properly restrained at the time of the crash.
“This was a very significant rollover that destroyed the car, and the only thing that kept this lady safe was her seat belt,” Callister said. “That seat belt saved her life.”
This report is based on statements from police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.
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A Nissan Versa is located upside down off of northbound Interstate 15 near mile marker 26, Mohave County, Ariz., Sept. 29, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Beaver Dam/Littlefield Fire and Rescue, St. George News
A Nissan Versa is located upside-down off of northbound Interstate 15 near mile marker 26, Mohave County, Ariz., Sept. 29, 2018 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News
A Nissan Versa is loaded onto a tow truck after a single-vehicle rollover on northbound Interstate 15 near mile marker 26, Mohave County, Ariz., Sept. 29, 2018 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News
A Nissan Versa is loaded onto a tow truck after a single-vehicle rollover on northbound Interstate 15 near mile marker 26, Mohave County, Ariz., Sept. 29, 2018 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News
A Nissan Versa is loaded onto a tow truck after a single-vehicle rollover on northbound Interstate 15 near mile marker 26, Mohave County, Ariz., Sept. 29, 2018 | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News
A Nissan Versa is located upside down off of northbound Interstate 15 near mile marker 26, Mohave County, Ariz., Sept. 29, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Beaver Dam/Littlefield Fire and Rescue, St. George News
A Nissan Versa is located upside down off of northbound Interstate 15 near mile marker 26, Mohave County, Ariz., Sept. 29, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Beaver Dam/Littlefield Fire and Rescue, St. George News
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