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SLIDESHOW: See pictures of the crash
RIVERDALE -- A 28-year-old pregnant California woman died when the semitruck she was riding in crashed on the ramp to eastbound Interstate 84 from Interstate 15 about 3 p.m. Tuesday.
The accident caused the closing of the ramp to I-84 for several hours Tuesday.
Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Cameron Roden said a single semitrailer carrying apples rolled over on the bridge.
"The driver was not injured," Roden said, "but we did have a female passenger that was ejected that is deceased."
Reports state the pregnant woman, Martha R. Pichardo, was thrown from the sleeper area of the truck.
Roden said she was the wife of the semi driver, who was from Patterson, Calif.
Speed appears to be a factor in the crash, Roden said.
"The driver couldn't negotiate the curve and (the truck) flipped over on its side," he said.
A UHP report states, "The vehicle was traveling too fast for the curve of the road as I-84 curves back to the east and over I-15."
"The driver stated that he felt the semi jump or lift from the left lane into the right," it states. "The trailer started to weave and the driver braked and lost control of the vehicle."
The semi flipped onto its passenger side and onto the concrete barriers, states the report.
The semi continued to slide and came to a rest blocking both lanes of traffic.
The woman's body was found under the semitrailer and a concrete barrier that had flipped over.
She was pronounced dead at the scene and was transported Ogden Regional Medical Center to await the medical examiner.
The driver was taken to Ogden Regional for evaluation, but appeared to have very minor, if any, injuries, the report states.
Because apples spilled onto the road, Roden said, cleanup was extensive.
It's one of a few accidents there in the past few years involving apple-hauling semis.
After a similar accident in about the same spot just one month shy of a decade ago, UDOT officials said they planned to post more signs warning truckers to slow down on the onramp.
Complaints then were that the curve on the top of the onramp was deceptive because it was so sharp and sudden.
At that time, the only warning for drivers racing up the onramp at freeway speeds was a yellow warning sign with a sharp-turn symbol posted less than 50 yards from the turn.
A 45 mph speed advisory below the sign told drivers to slow down.
At that time, both a UDOT operations engineer and an experienced truck driver said drivers unfamiliar with the area may assume they can travel at freeway speeds as they approach the overpass and not realize they should slow down until it's too late.
Updated 11:19 p.m.
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Accident closes EB I-84 ramp, one dead
WEBER COUNTY — A fatal accident on southbound Interstate 15 near the ramp to eastbound Interstate 84 has caused the closing of the ramp to I-84 for what may be several hours.
Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Cameron Roden said the accident involved a single semi-truck carrying apples that rolled over on the bridge.
“The driver was not injured,” he said. “But we did have a female passenger that was ejected that is deceased.”
Roden said he has not received an official report but doesn’t believe she was wearing a seat belt.
Speed appears to be a factor in the accident, Roden said.
“The driver couldn’t negotiate the curve and (the truck) flipped over on its side,” he said.
He said he does not have any information about the driver and the woman, but said they were husband and wife.
Because the apples spilled on the road, Roden said the cleanup will take a while. He said the expected time for the closure will be at least two to three hours.
