5 hospitalized in separate off-road vehicle accidents

Five people were injured in off-road vehicle accidents Sunday and flown to nearby hospitals.

The first occurred just after 1 p.m. above the Silver Lake Flat Reservoir in Utah County when a 31-year-old woman from Murray crashed while trying to ride over a log on the trail.

Utah County search and rescue crews located the victim, and she was flown to a nearby hospital with broken bones.

An hour later, two Clearfield women were riding on a dirt road near the Right Hand Fork area in Logan Canyon and crashed when they hit a rock. Cache County Sheriff's Lt. Matt Bilodeau said both women, ages 31 and 40, were injured "pretty seriously."

They were flown to McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden for treatment. Both women were wearing helmets.

Another ATV accident occurred about 20 miles outside of Huntsville when two teen girls were riding an ATV near state Route 39 about 5:30 p.m.

Officials say the 13-year-old girl who was driving the ATV was not injured but her 15-year-old passenger was seriously injured and later flown to Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City.

S.R. 39 was shut down for about an hour while the helicopter landed and flew the victim out of the area.

The last accident occurred in Utah County in the Spanish Fork area Sunday night.

The victim, a 21-year-old man, was riding side-by-side with his 20-year-old female passenger on an off-road vehicle on Skyline Drive in Spanish Fork Canyon just after 7 p.m.

The off-road vehicle rolled and pinned the Carbon County man to the ground. Nearby witnesses helped pull the machine off the man and began performing CPR.

Search and rescue crews responded and the victim was flown to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in extremely critical condition, Utah County Sheriff's deputy Collin Gordon said.

It's unknown whether the victim regained consciousness or started breathing on his own during the flight.

The 21-year-old victim was still in critical condition on Monday.

Officials emphasized that people need to be careful when riding off-road vehicles.

"Always, always use the safety equipment provided," Gordon said. "Wear your helmets, and drive within your ability on the terrain. Obviously, if you're not an experienced rider, don't push it. Be mindful of the situation you're in."

e-mail: lgroves@desnews.com