GRANTSVILLE, Utah — Video released by the Utah Highway Patrol shows what caused a violent accident on Interstate 80 near Grantsville earlier this month, along with the aftermath of the collision.
Westbound lanes of the highway were completely shut for hours on March 2 after the accident near mile marker 85. A trooper had stopped a semi truck on the side of the highway when another truck attempted to move, but failed to see a car in its blind spot and over-corrected, causing the truck to sideswipe the other semi and the trooper's SUV.
Following the initial hit, the truck crashed off the highway and turned on its side, leading to the cab catching on fire. The car the truck was trying to avoid also crashed, injuring the male and female passengers inside.
Watch dash cam video below from inside the UHP trooper's vehicle
Body cam video from the trooper starts off inside the first truck cab seconds before the collision. After the truck slams into the vehicles, the trooper steps down and the other truck can be seen careening down the highway. The trooper immediately gets on his radio to report the accident and then rushes to help put out the fire.
After arriving at the car with the passengers inside, the trooper tells the couple to stay inside for their own safety. He implores with the passengers to talk to each other to keep themselves awake.
In dash cam video from inside the trooper's vehicle, a screeching noise can be heard in the background before the truck collides with the truck and UHP car.
Trooper Sterling Saiz was not injured in the accident. At the time, he told FOX 13 News how appreciative he was of the bystanders who helped rescue the man and woman from the car.
“We all worked together to get people out of the car and try to stabilize the incident overall,” he said.
