Snowy commute causes numerous accidents

SALT LAKE CITY — Another blast of winter made for a crash-filled morning commute Friday.

Numerous slide-offs and crashes turned many of the major thoroughfares into a parking lot by 7 a.m. Early crash numbers from midnight through 10:30 a.m. from the Utah Highway Patrol showed 110 accidents and slideoffs in Salt Lake County, with nine of the crashes causing injuries. There was a total of 41 accidents in Utah County.

At 7:30 a.m., UHP reported a trooper's car had been hit on northbound I-15 in Orem. The trooper was blocking the HOV lane while investigating a crash when a woman in a Honda Accord lost control of her vehicle, hit the median wall and and "slid" past the trooper's vehicle.

There was some paint transfer, but no real damage. However, the woman continued to slide until her vehicle collided head-on with a vehicle involved in the original crash.

Since the start of the year, there have been 15 incidents in which UHP troopers or their vehicles were hit. In three of those crashes, the injuries to the troopers were serious enough that they required medical attention.

TRAX service was also affected Friday because of a car blocking the green line at Decker Lake, 3070 S. 2200 West. A tweet from the Utah Transit Authority said the incident did not involve a TRAX train hitting a car.

Snow-packed and slick roads were also reported in Davis, Weber and Utah counties.

Chains were required for semitrailers in Parleys Canyon.

The KSL Weather Center forecasted snow through the morning commute, and then more snow on Saturday.

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Twitter: DNewsCrimeTeam