ERDA, Utah — Two people inside a Chevrolet Corvette were killed Wednesday after their car was hit by a semi truck in Tooele County.
The Utah Highway Patrol said the Corvette was attempting to enter SR-179, also known as the Midvalley Highway, when it turned from Parachute Lane in front of the northbound semi truck, which struck the car.
Both occupants inside the Corvette were killed in the accident. Utah Highway Patrol identified the victims as 66-year-old Robert Chato Rainwater and 65-year-old Alan Boyd Anderson.
“For whatever reason they thought they were clear or whatever happened, but there was a northbound semi truck, T-boned the Chevy Corvette, killed both occupants on impact," said Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Jared Green.
The intersection has been the scene of dozens of accidents since 2021 including 3 fatal wrecks.
The Utah Department of Transportation has been studying the intersection for years and looking for ways to make it safer. They recently received approval and funding to put in a stoplight at the intersection and the equipment is already on scene to begin that process.
It’s an intersection that’s become notorious in Tooele County, since it opened nearly 5 years ago.
Rhona Boutwell Taylor is a lifelong Tooele County resident and she said she knew it was going to be dangerous intersection.
“It’s called Parachute Lane, I call it paramedic Lane because you’re gonna see a lot of paramedics, and we have seen a lot of paramedics," said Taylor, who knows from experience.
A little more than two weeks after the intersection opened in 2021, her son Johnny was involved in a crash at the location.
Johnny, who has special needs and is confined to a wheelchair, was being driven to an activity by a care provider on the day of the accident.
“[The driver] was going to make a left-hand turn, that same intersection, a left-hand turn onto 179 going westbound. She went across the road and she was hit by a crane, and the crane took her a quarter mile into oncoming traffic," Taylor explained.
Johnny and the driver survived but wound up with severe injuries.
Since 2021, Utah highway patrol troopers have documented nearly 70 accidents at the intersection.
“Every time we have an accident out here, UDOT responds and they do their investigation. Because we’ve had so many fatals here, they’ve been looking to put a light in here," said Sgt. Green
UDOT officials confirmed to FOX 13 News that they have started the process to add a traffic signal to the intersection. Some of the construction equipment is already in place, and the light should be operational by June 1.
Rhona Taylor said she was happy to hear the news is also sad about all the damage that’s already been done.
“People that have been injured, people that have been killed, and everybody’s life that’s been changed," she said. "It could have been taken care of… way back when. But finally, five years later they decide they’re going to do something.
But it’s five years too late for the guys that died.”
