SALT LAKE COUNTY — After a woman died in a rollover crash Sunday afternoon on Interstate 15 in South Salt Lake, investigators have identified another vehicle that may have been involved in the incident and are trying to get answers about what exactly happened.
It happened at about 4:30 Sunday afternoon, in broad daylight and on a road that was dry at the time. Utah Highway Patrol officials say a Dodge Charger was traveling north on I-15 near 3300 South, around 4:30 p.m., when it went off the right side of the road and rolled. The car came to rest upside down between the northbound lanes and the 3300 South on-ramp.
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The driver and a passenger were ejected during the rollover. Neither was wearing a seat belt.
Investigators are not ruling out the possibility that road rage may be a factor — at least not yet. UHP Lt. Brian Peterson says investigators now know the other car was a Honda Civic. But what they don’t know yet is exactly who was behind the wheel at the time. Peterson says they also want to know if road rage or aggressive driving could be factors.
“Obviously, we are going to consider that as we go through our interviews and our investigation and looking at the whole totality of the crash,” Peterson said.
We now know that a shooting last week at the state liquor store in Taylorsville had a component of road rage.
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Tyler Traveon Mhaka is in the Salt Lake County Jail, facing seven felonies for allegedly shooting a man before he was shot by police. Each of the seven counts of felony discharge of a firearm has road rage tacked onto it.
Lowell Finney is a retired engineer and safety program manager for Salt Lake City. He is now a defensive driving instructor.
“We tell people to stay focused. You are trying to get from point A to point B — do it in a safe manner,” he said.
Finney also spends time on Utah’s Capitol Hill, lobbying lawmakers to try to make our streets safer in whatever way they can. Finney says there are too many deaths on Utah roads.
“Because we want to see more education, we want to see better safety on our roadways,” he said.
Finney says there are certain rules of the road we all need to remember, especially when it comes to aggressive drivers.
“Consider your own safety the number one priority,” he advised. “Rather than get into an argument because someone cut in front of you and now you want to tailgate them and try to force them — we’ve got to stop this kind of thing.”
Lt. Peterson agrees.
“Take a deep breath, slow down, create distance, don’t engage with those other individuals that are driving aggressive,” he said. “If you start to be followed, drive somewhere safe like a police station. Call the police. We will respond, but just don’t engage, don’t give them what they want. Create that distance and make sure that you are safe.”
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