Heavy traffic turned I-15 through south Provo into a mess Saturday afternoon, contributing to three separate accidents.
The first accident occurred at 4:20 p.m. south of the Center Street exit when Kimberly Gay, 21, Payson, slowed her southbound Chevy Cavalier because of traffic. Gay's car was rear-ended by a pickup truck driven by Brad Englert, 38, Las Vegas.Englert's vehicle was then hit from behind by a semitrailer freight truck. The semi was then struck in the rear by a blue Pontiac driven by Jack Hughes, 41, West Jordan.
None of the drivers or passengers was injured in the collisions. The accident blocked one of the two southbound freeway lanes.
Moments later a second accident occurred a short distance behind the first pileup when a motorhome and a tow truck pulling a vehicle collided. That shut down the remaining lane, said Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Todd Johnson.
Traffic backed up for miles during the 20 minutes it took to clear the vehicles off the freeway, he said.
About an hour later, a third accident occurred on southbound I-15 just north of the Provo Center Street exit. David Weiler, 32, West Valley City, slowed his Subaru because of heavy traffic. Janice Metelko, 17, Price, who was following Weiler, also slowed her vehicle, but her car was rear-ended by Larry Jackson, 58, West Valley City, Johnson said.
Metelko's vehicle spun around and then struck Weiler's Subaru. Two passengers in Metelko's vehicle, Greg Jensen and Tina Allred, were transported to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. They were treated and released. No one else in the vehicles was injured.
The drivers pulled into the median after the accident, keeping the travel lanes open. Two of the vehicles had to be towed from the scene.