Five accidents along Utah roadways have claimed the lives of five people since Thursday. Bad weather, speed and driving in the wrong lane of travel have been blamed for three of the accidents. Two others are still under investigation.
Killed in separate incidents were:Esther Broughton, 90, Mt. View, Wyo.
Larry Ogden, 53, Murray.
Raymond Bennett, 41, Kearns.
Ki C. Hong, 62, Hollywood, Calif.
Carter John Lewis, 48, Big Piney, Wyo.
Broughton was killed Saturday morning when the car she was riding in slid off the highway and rolled down a 300-foot embankment in Summit County.
The 90-year-old woman was the front-seat passenger in a car traveling west on I-80 east of Coalville about 8:10 a.m. Road conditions were wet with rain and slush from the storm front that passed through Utah overnight Friday. The driver lost control and the car slid off the highway and rolled down the embankment.
Broughton and the driver, William Porter, 64, also from Mt. View, Wyo., were ejected. Porter suffered critical injuries and was transported by medical helicopter to University Hospital. Doral Porter, 60, was not wearing her seat belt but remained inside the car and suffered only minor injuries and has since been released from a Wyoming hospital.
Earlier Saturday morning Ogden was declared dead at LDS Hospital after emergency surgery to temper critical injures suffered in an auto-pedestrian accident was unsuccessful.
Ogden was hit about 10 p.m. Friday by a northbound car on Wasatch Boulevard as he tried to help a bus driver back out of a driveway at the French restaurant La Caille at Quail Run, 9565 S. Wasatch Blvd. He was airlifted to LDS Hospital, where he died shortly after midnight, Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Steve Sharp said.
Police are questioning a woman who they say called a short time after the accident from her home to report she "may have hit something near La Caille," Sharp said.
Investigators who went to the woman's home reported that the windshield of her car was smashed, Sharp said. The investigation was ongoing Saturday and the woman had not been arrested or cited, deputy A.J. Morley said.
Friday night, Bennett rolled his southbound car on I-15, 10 miles south of Nephi, at 11:44 p.m. He was ejected and was pronounced dead at the scene, Utah Highway Patrol spokeswoman Paula Ernstrom.
Friday afternoon, Ki Hong was killed in a rollover accident on I-15, 26 miles south of Fillmore. Ki Hong was riding in a northbound car driven by his wife, Sook Hong, 51. Witnesses said the car lurched to the left side of the road into the freeway median and then overcorrected to the right, causing it to roll seven times before coming to rest on its side, a Utah Highway Patrol report stated.
Millard County Sheriff's deputy Steve O'Camb said investigators believe the car was traveling faster than 90 mph when the driver lost control. Sook Hong suffered critical injuries and was airliftedto LDS Hospital, where she remained in critical condition Saturday.
On Thursday, Lewis was killed in San Juan County when his motorcycle collided with a British tourist who was driving on the wrong side of the road.
Lewis was southbound on U-191 when he collided with the car driven by Anthony L. Jones near Shirtail Store, south of Blanding, about 8:20 p.m., a San Juan County Sheriff's report stated.
Jones, 32, from Birmingham, England, was driving northbound in the southbound lanes when he rounded a curve where the two vehicles collided. Lewis was thrown off his bike before striking the car's hood and landing about 80 feet away. He was not wearing a helmet and was later pronounced dead at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo.
Jones was uninjured in the incident but was cited for improper lane travel and may face additional penalties, pending the outcome of an investigation.