In the early hours of Sunday, a reckless wrong-way driver on I-15 in southern Utah set off a chain of crashes involving multiple vehicles. According to the Utah Department of Public Safety, the incident began near milepost 81 when a 2006 Cadillac was spotted speeding north in the southbound lanes.
A trooper engaged in the pursuit near milepost 88.5 northbound, with the suspect's vehicle initially evading a PIT maneuver and accelerating to speeds around 90 mph, later reaching up to 115–120 mph. Tragically attempting to stop the rogue driver, the trooper's intervention couldn't prevent the impending disaster. The Cadillac collided with a 2024 Freightliner semi-truck at milepost 98 southbound, resulting in a subsequent crash as a 2014 Toyota hit the trailer of the now-immobilized Freightliner.
The chaos on the interstate didn't end there. As vehicles came to a halt, the situation worsened. A second semi, a 2011 Freightliner, collided with the first semi's trailer, splitting it in half. "The two female occupants of the Toyota were transported by ground to an area hospital with minor injuries," detailed by the Utah Department of Public Safety. The catastrophe on the road continued as the second semi then struck the rear of the Toyota, which had already been involved in the initial collision with the first Freightliner.
The aftermath of the series of collisions left the driver of the Cadillac critically injured, requiring extrication from his vehicle before being airlifted to receive urgent medical attention. The pileup forced the closure of both northbound and southbound lanes of I-15 for over two hours, causing significant traffic disruptions. Numerous emergency response teams were dispatched to the scene, and the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
