Woman driving wrong way was very drunk, police say

LEHI — A 19-year-old woman accused of crashing her car into a Utah Highway Patrol vehicle Wednesday night while driving the wrong way on I-15 had a blood-alcohol level two and a half times the legal limit, police say.

Hayless Arnell, of Riverton, was booked into the Utah County Jail for investigation of DUI, hit-and-run and several other charges. Police say she was driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.202.

Investigators believe Arnell was driving home from the Provo-Orem area Wednesday night when she exited at 12th West in Lehi for an unknown reason. She went under the freeway and then made a right turn on the offramp, side-swiping a vehicle as she re-entered I-15 heading in the wrong direction and with her car's headlights turned off, said Lehi Police Sgt. Jeff Swenson.

Several witnesses called 911 as Arnell continued driving for another three miles.

A UHP trooper spotted the vehicle near Thanksgiving Point and positioned his vehicle where the woman's vehicle hit it head-on. Neither the trooper nor the woman suffered serious injuries.

Swenson said if not for the action of the trooper, the incident could easily have been a repeat of what happened earlier in the day when a wrong-way driver on I-215 hit a semitrailer, creating a fiery collision that killed one person.

"I have to commend the trooper. He did an excellent job. He probably saved a fatality last night by getting there quick and spotting the vehicle," Swenson said. "He probably saved some lives."

The woman was less than cooperative with police and medical personnel, Swenson said. She was taken to American Fork Hospital to be checked out before being booked into jail.

Earlier Wednesday, Donald Swenson, 71, of Sandy, was killed on I-215 when his vehicle was hit head-on by a tractor-trailer that had just rounded the bend at Knudsen's Corner near 6200 South and 2300 East. Officials believe Swenson had entered the freeway via an offramp at Highland Drive.

They believe he was disoriented and had slowed down to about 10 mph before being hit. The semitrailer's driver had no time to react. Both vehicles burst into flames when the big rig's fuel tank was ruptured and ignited.

The semitrailer's driver, Kulwinder Singh, 51, of Livermore, Calif., was taken to Intermountain Medical Center.

The UHP advises all drivers to always look 10 to 12 seconds ahead of them on the road, which means looking at what's coming up in 10 seconds or so. That way, if motorists spot debris in the road or even a wrong-way driver, they'll have time to brake and take evasive action.

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