Highway collision near Mesquite leaves 2 with severe injuries
ST. GEORGE — An early-morning crash Tuesday on Interstate 15 just north of Mesquite, Nevada, resulted in two California men being taken to the hospital with severe injuries.
At around 1:30 a.m. MST, a 2014 Mazda M6 rear-ended a 2014 Toyota Tundra pickup truck on southbound I-15 at milepost 4 in Arizona, Sgt. John Bottoms with the Arizona Department of Public Safety said.
Two men from Carpinteria, California were in the Toyota and were returning home after a hunting trip in Utah, he said, when the Mazda, driven by a 21-year-old St. George woman, rear-ended the pickup at high speed.
One witness told Bottoms that they estimated the Mazda passed them going 100 mph or more.
The impact caused the Toyota’s driver to lose control of the vehicle, resulting in it rolling, Bottoms said.
When he arrived at the scene, Bottoms said he found assorted body parts on the road that turned out to be from the deer and elk the hunters had bagged in Utah.
One of the men was flown by Mercy Air to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George while the other was taken by ambulance to Mesa View Hospital in Mesquite, then taken to University Medical Center in Las Vegas.
Both men were listed in critical condition with injuries that included fractured ribs and vertebrae and collapsed lungs, Bottoms said.
The driver of the Mazda was taken to DRMC by the Mesquite Fire Department where she was treated for minor injuries and released.
In addition to high speed, impairment involving drugs or alcohol is also believed to be a possible factor in the crash, Bottoms said.
The Mazda driver has yet to be given a citation as authorities are waiting on toxicology results. If the results are clean, the woman will be cited for driving too fast to avoid a collision, Bottoms said. If the results come back positive, she will be given a citation for DUI.
Southbound I-15 in the area of the crash was blocked from 1:30 a.m. to around 2:30 a.m. as the Mercy Air medical helicopter landed and took off. After that, a single lane was opened until the roadway was cleared.
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A high-speed collision on southbound I-15 near Mesquite, Nev., resulted in two men from California being taken to hospitals in Utah and Nevada with serious injuries, Mohave County, Arizona, Oct. 16, 2018 | Photo courtesy of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, St. George News
A high-speed collision on southbound I-15 near Mesquite, Nev., resulted in two men from California being taken to hospitals in Utah and Nevada with serious injuries, Mohave County, Arizona, Oct. 16, 2018 | Photo courtesy of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, St. George News
A high-speed collision on southbound I-15 near Mesquite, Nev., resulted in two men from California being taken to hospitals in Utah and Nevada with serious injuries, Mohave County, Arizona, Oct. 16, 2018 | Photo courtesy of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, St. George News
A high-speed collision on southbound I-15 near Mesquite, Nev., resulted in two men from California being taken to hospitals in Utah and Nevada with serious injuries, Mohave County, Arizona, Oct. 16, 2018 | Photo courtesy of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, St. George News
A high-speed collision on southbound I-15 near Mesquite, Nev., resulted in two men from California being taken to hospitals in Utah and Nevada with serious injuries, Mohave County, Arizona, Oct. 16, 2018 | Photo courtesy of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, St. George News
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