A person was rushed to the hospital in critical condition Friday night after being struck by a vehicle in Kearns, with investigators still working to determine what led up to the crash. The collision happened at 8:16 p.m. near 4180 West and 4715 South, leaving the victim's condition and the circumstances of the impact largely unresolved as of this weekend.
Police confirmed the time and location of the crash but have not released the identity of the person who was hit, according to FOX 13 News Utah. Investigators have not said whether the pedestrian was inside a crosswalk at the time of the crash, and the outlet reported that detail remains unknown. The cause of the collision is still under investigation, and no additional information about the driver has been released.
A Stretch of Road With a Troubled Recent History
Friday's crash adds to a string of pedestrian-involved collisions that have rattled the Kearns area in recent months. In February, two separate auto-pedestrian crashes happened within hours of each other at the intersection of 4700 South and 5600 West, on the border of West Valley City and Kearns, according to KSL.com. In the first of those crashes, a car struck a teenage boy on the Kearns side of the crosswalk, sending him to the hospital in fair condition, the outlet reported.
The second February crash was even more alarming: a good Samaritan who stopped to help was then hit by a car himself, suffering leg injuries that required hospitalization, though he was listed in good condition. Police said the vehicle involved in that second crash, a dark-colored SUV, fled the scene, and investigators asked anyone with information to call 801-840-4000, per the same KSL report.
Another Recent Critical-Condition Case
The Friday night crash also echoes an earlier incident in which a pedestrian was hit by a truck in Kearns on a Wednesday night and hospitalized in critical condition, KSL reported separately. In that case, the truck was traveling eastbound on 5415 South near roughly 4620 West when it struck a 66-year-old man wearing all-black clothing. A reporter on the scene for the outlet said the pedestrian was not in a crosswalk when he was reportedly hit.
That earlier case offered more detail than what has emerged so far from Friday's crash. Lt. Shane Manwaring of the Unified Police Department said the driver in the truck collision stayed at the scene and was performing CPR on the victim when first responders arrived, and that police did not suspect the driver was impaired, the outlet reported. It remains unclear whether similar circumstances applied to Friday's crash, since those details have not been released.
What Utah Law Requires at Crosswalks
Utah's pedestrian right-of-way statute spells out when drivers are legally required to yield. Except in certain specified circumstances, the operator of a vehicle must slow down or stop to yield the right-of-way when a pedestrian is crossing within a crosswalk on the half of the roadway where the vehicle is traveling, according to Utah Code. Whether that provision applies to Friday's crash is unknown, since authorities have not said whether the person struck was in a crosswalk.
The investigation into Friday's crash remains active, and no further details about the victim's condition, the driver, or a possible cause have been made public.
