TREMONTON — A 21-year-old man and his 40-year-old mother were involved in a rollover at 8:42 p.m. Thursday, said Lt. Lee Perry of the Utah Highway Patrol.
Aaron Jackson, of West Jordan, was driving the green 1997 Mercury Mountaineer westbound on Interstate 84 near the Howell Junction when the 12-foot trailer the vehicle was towing started causing problems.
"He said he hit his breaks and the trailer started to fishtail on him, and that threw the vehicle into a spin," said Perry, who noted that marks on the road seemed to indicate Jackson’s story was true. "The vehicle spun off the road, and the trailer became detached, and the vehicle rolled."
As the vehicle rolled twice, Debby Jackson, also of West Jordan, who was wearing her seat belt but was reclined in the passenger seat, slipped out of the restraints and was ejected, landing 10 feet away from the vehicle. When crews arrived she was taken by ground ambulance to Bear River Valley Hospital having suffered lower back and possible leg injuries. She was then airlifted to University of Utah Hospital.
Aaron Jackson also was taken to Bear River Valley Hospital, but Lee said it was more of a precautionary measure because Jackson, who also was wearing his seat belt, was walking around after the accident.
No citations were issued, but police say that in such circumstances it is best not to slam on the breaks when trailers begin to fishtail behind vehicles.
"Sometimes the better solution is to ease off the breaks a little bit and let the vehicle pull itself out of the whipping motion, and then slow down gradually," Perry said. "If you slam on your breaks really hard when something like that happens it can cause the vehicle to overreact."
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