From the Salt Lake Tribune:
A two-car collision in Spanish Fork Canyon at about 5:30 p.m. left three people dead and three others critically injured. The accident occurred when a westbound vehicle on U.S. 6 crashed head-on into a Ford pickup carrying five family members. The driver of the westbound vehicle, an unidentified female, died at the scene of the accident. The male driver of the pickup and an infant passenger also died in the crash. Their identities were also unavailable. Three other passengers from the pickup including a woman, a 6-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy were hospitalized in critical condition. It appeared that speed was a factor in the accident, said UHP Sgt. Doug McCleve.
No shit, speed was a factor. I’ll bet if they were standing still, none of this would have happened. Speed is NEVER a factor in car accidents. If I’m going over the speed limit, passing when there are oncoming vehicles, then my stupidity would be the only factor in an accident. Somebody being where they shouldn’t have been was the only factor in this accident.
Coincidentally, on the news last night (RealVideo Feed), the UHP trooper said the baby was sitting on the mother’s lap in the truck. I feel very sorry for that baby, but the mother gets no sympathy from me. That bitch got what she had comin’. It was a regular-cab Ford truck, almost identical to mine, except a year or two newer, and they had two adults and three children crammed into that thing. It’s uncomfortable for even three adults to sit in my truck.
I drive that highway, the deadliest highway in Utah, at least once a week (both ways), and I’ve seen some really stupid shit happen. Usually it has something to do with most people being oblivious to their surroundings, or being overly-cautious to a fault. I don’t think the UHP is helping, either, because they don’t give citations over seemingly-minor infractions–rather, they park on the shoulder near a blind corner and clock people as they come into view. There are several places where either the eastbound or westbound lane opens up into a 2-lane passing lane, and there is a sign that says, “Keep Right Except to Pass,” obviously because the oncoming traffic can use that lane to pass if it is unoccupied. It seems like about half the people on the road just stay to the left, either because they’re lazy as hell, or they’re just completely oblivious. I usually hang my arm out the window and give those people the finger while flashing my headlights at them, but it never works. It really is stupid people like that that cause accidents, not people who speed.