1 driver dead, 1 injured in crashes with semitrailers

TOOELE — One man was killed and another man was seriously injured Monday when their vehicles slammed into the backs of semitrailers.

The first crash occurred about 8:30 a.m. at the intersection of state Route 36 and East Saddleback Boulevard near a Flying J truck stop in Tooele County. The driver of a pickup truck slammed into the back of a belly-dump trailer being pulled by a truck, according to Utah Highway Patrol trooper Cameron Roden.

The Erda man, 28, who was driving a Tooele County-owned pickup truck, suffered serious injuries. He was flown to a Salt Lake-area hospital and is expected to survive, Roden said. The driver of the semitrailer was uninjured.

The second crash occurred a little after 2 p.m., when a semitrailer heading north on I-15 slowed to get off at the port of entry near Willard, Roden said. A 38-year-old man from Brigham City driving a Dodge Neon slammed into the back of the large truck.

"We don't know if he wasn't paying attention or what," Roden said.

The man was flown to Ogden Regional Medical Center, where he later died from his injuries, he said. The name is being withheld pending family notification. The truck driver was not injured.

The man killed in the crash was an alcohol-restricted driver. UHP troopers are investigating whether he was impaired at the time of the crash.

The freeway was closed for about an hour while crews responded to the incident.

— Pat Reavy, Geoff Liesik, Lana Groves