ST. GEORGE, Utah — Police say a young woman driving with a baby on her lap caused a crash in St. George Monday afternoon.
St. George News reports that around 2:15 p.m., an 18-year-old woman traveling northbound in a silver Mazda 3 collided with a middle-aged woman driving a white Chevy Traverse at the intersection of 1000 East and Red Hills Parkway.
Police say an 18-year-old woman had a baby in her lap that was not restrained.
“The air bag did not go off, thank goodness, since the baby was there," St. George Police Sergeant Tyrell Bangerter said. "She reported that she was possibly pregnant and went to the hospital with abdominal pain.”
The baby suffered only minor injuries including bruising on the forehead, and the baby’s grandmother came to take care of the child in the aftermath. The woman was transported to St. George Regional Hospital by Gold Cross Ambulance.
In the other vehicle, the driver was wearing a seatbelt and her airbag did deploy, which may have contributed to the bloody nose and minor lacerations to the face that the woman sustained.
The 18-year-old was cited for failing to obey the traffic signal, lacking proof of insurance, having never obtained a driver’s license and having an unrestrained child in the vehicle, Bangerter said.
“Your kids need to be buckled,” he added. “As drivers, we need to be responsible for the care of our passengers, especially those under the age of 16. With a child like this, you need to make sure they’re in proper car seats, facing the right direction and properly buckled in.”
