MAGNA -- A telephone pole near the 8400 West and 3100 South intersection haunts Suzanne Whiting.
Scars were forever carved in the wooden pole about 13 years ago during an accident involving a dump truck, Whiting's station wagon and two other vehicles. The dump truck had brake trouble, rumbled into the intersection and collided with the vehicles.Whiting's 5-year-old son, Joshua, was ejected from the station wagon, suffered severe head injuries and died several years later as a result of the accident.
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Several other children were injured in the Dec. 2, 1985, collision, including Whiting's 8-year-old stepson. Criminal charges were filed against the driver, and the truck company settled a financial suit with the Whitings.
Now another deadly dump truck accident in September at the same Magna intersection has become another painful reminder, Whiting said.
Again, a large industrial truck traveling north on 8400 West experienced brake trouble. The truck apparently lost control, clipped one car at 3500 South and collided with three more vehicles at 3100 South before running into an elm tree.
A Huntsville man, 36-year-old Michael J. Burke, was killed in the Sept. 17 accident. Four others were injured.
Cindy Noorda Bithell, 39, Riverton, was charged in 3rd District Court Monday with one count of automobile homicide, a second-degree felony; and four third-degree felony and class A misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Bithell was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail Tuesday with bail set at $25,000.
Investigators found levels of methamphetamine, amphetamine, cocaine and benzoylecgonine in the woman's blood and urine, according to the charges.
"(The drugs) sped up her time sense, made her impatient, caused her loss of motor control and destroyed her judgment," the charges state. The level of methamphetamine found in her system could result in paranoia and hallucinations.
Prosecutors say Bithell failed to stop and check the truck's brakes before heading down 8400 West, a road with a 6 percent grade. She was driving 60 mph in a 35 mph zone before losing control, witnesses told police. Trying to stop the 53,000-pound truck at that speed caused the brakes to fail, investigators believe.
Burke was stopped at the 3100 South and 8400 West intersection when the truck struck his Subaru. The impact sent the car into a tree, killing Burke.
When sheriff's deputies tried to talk to Bithell after the wreck, she acted erratic and confused, according to the charges. It took her three tries to fill out an accident report statement.
Bithell allegedly told investigators the brakes on the truck went out when she tried to stop. Mechanics who inspected the truck after the crash said the brakes were working on some level, according to the charges. The truck was equipped with six brakes -- 2 1/2 of which were out of adjustment. The others were working but were extremely hot when investigators inspected the truck just after the crash.
Bithell had the chance to drive into an empty parking lot or an open field after losing control, but she continued heading down 8400 West instead, the charges allege.
That accident prompted concern among parents at the nearby Magna Elementary School, said principal Ted Williams. More moms and dads are now coming to pick up their kids from school, he said.
Whiting's 7-year-old son, Ty, lives within walking distance of the school. "But I drive him to school every day across that intersection," said Whiting, who serves as the school's PTA president.
Williams has met with his staff to discuss student/pedestrian safety. Each workday, hundreds of heavy trucks from area excavating and gravel companies pass through the same intersections children cross on their way to and from Magna Elementary, 8500 W. 3100 South.
"Plus there's a downhill grade going north, so it's easy for speed to get away from those big trucks," said deputy Mike Leary, who investigated the recent accident.
Parents and Magna community members rallied for change after the 1985 accident. The speed limit along 8400 West was lowered from 45 mph to 35 mph, and a mandatory brake check pull-over area for heavy trucks was created at 4300 S. 8400 West.
Despite the improvement, law officers and community members admit the accident site is still a dangerous mix of little kids, big trucks and passenger cars.
Leary said traffic officers have been speaking to area trucking companies for years about safety -- but admits there's no way to eliminate the dangers of mixing gravel trucks, cars and pedestrians on the same roadway.
For now, anyone who uses 8400 West "needs to be aware and alert to what's going on," Leary said.