Two Brigham Young University students were killed Thursday in a rush-hour crash on I-15, and a Washington County man died in a weather-related morning accident.
Killed:Jennifer Read, 18, Germantown, Tenn.
Suzanne Stanley, 18, Houston, Texas.
Ralph H. Haring, 69, Bloomington Hills, Washington County.
Read and Stanley, both Brigham Young University students, were killed and an Orem man injured in a three-vehicle accident Thursday during rush-hour traffic on I-15.
The two students were traveling southbound together near American Fork about 4:45 p.m. when the accident occurred. Read, who was driving the vehicle, apparently lost control, crossed through the median onto the other side of the freeway and hit a northbound vehicle almost head-on, said Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Mike Rees.
The driver of the northbound vehicle, Donald E. Courtright, 55, of Orem, was in stable condition Friday at American Fork Hospital. A vehicle driven by BYU student Jeffrey R. Christensen, 18, collided with Courtright's vehicle when the accident occurred.
Christensen was wearing a seat belt and suffered only minor bruises.
Troopers were forced to shut down the northbound lanes of I-15 between Lehi and American Fork for nearly an hour, causing traffic to back up to 800 North in Orem. Minor accidents were also reported in the southbound lanes because many motorists slowed down to see the accident, Rees said.
The weather was a factor in the rollover on I-15, nine miles north of Parowan, that claimed the life of Haring, said Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Jeff Bigler.
Haring died at the scene of the 7:50 a.m. accident. He was ejected from the northbound vehicle after it slid on the icy highway, entered the median and rolled 1 1/2 times. Bigler said the victim was not wearing a safety belt.