SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s car community is grieving the loss of one of their own after two people were innocently killed in a road rage crash in Eagle Mountain.
For classic car enthusiasts, there’s nothing better than a June joyride after the long winter kept many cars kept in the garage.
“It’s a community of people who have the same basic love for these old, air-cooled cars,” said Ric Birks, a Volkswagen and Porsche collector and admirer.
Birks met his friend, 48-year-old Rodney Salm, over 20 years ago racing at autocross events.
“He’ll find a good deal on something that I’ll miss or I’ll find one and he’ll miss it and we’ve had a good friendship about that,” said Birks.
Salm was driving his 1987 Porsche on SR-73 in Eagle Mountain Sunday afternoon. Michaela Himmleberger, 47, who was a career guidance counselor at Cottonwood High School, was in the passenger seat.
The two were driving around with other Porsches that are part of the many car clubs Salm participated in.
“If we had any kind of event, he’d make his best effort to come out and try and support it and be part of it,” said Birks.
Meanwhile, a Nissan Maxima and a Ford F-150 were initially involved in a road rage incident around 1:30 p.m. near the Eagle Mountain city center. According to the Utah County Sheriff's Office, the driver of the Nissan later told police that the Ford pulled out in front of him.
The two vehicles then drove north on Eagle Mountain Blvd. and turned east onto SR-73, while they "continued the road rage," Sgt. Spencer Cannon said.
Shortly after heading east on SR-73, the Nissan's driver said the truck was following close behind him, then pulled onto the right-hand-side emergency lane and rammed his car from the side.
That's when the truck apparently lost control and went into the oncoming lane, where it hit Salm’s westbound Porsche head-on, killing him and Himmleberger.
“The horror of it all. Had they not hit him, they’d have hit somebody else,” said Birks.
Road rage cases are becoming far too common.
A compact car driver was hospitalized Monday afternoon after they were allegedly shot by a motorcyclist along I-15 in Layton.
Last year, a survey by Forbes found that Utah leads the nation with the “most confrontational drivers.” The study even came out before a notorious road rage case in October when a Sandy father of four was shot and killed.
Of those surveyed, one in four Utahns reported that they know of someone in the state injured because of road rage.
The driver of the truck in Eagle Mountain was hospitalized. They have not been identified, but the Utah County Sheriff’s Office said they will be facing criminal charges.
Birks is trying to find a silver lining amid the unthinkable tragedy.
“He actually died doing something he loved, and how many of us get a chance to do that?” he said.
