OGDEN -- Utah Highway Patrol officials were busy Tuesday afternoon after a snow dusting left the highways slick.
Two teenagers in Davis County were hit by a vehicle after first surviving a single-car crash, and dozens of other accidents were reported in Northern Utah.
At about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, a vehicle traveling southbound on Highway 89 entering the Legacy Parkway overpass crashed into the concrete wall, UHP Trooper Cameron Roden said.
Two teenage boys got out of the vehicle to inspect the damage when a minivan entered the overpass and hit the two boys, Roden said. Both were transported by ambulance in fair condition to a Salt Lake City hospital.
For about two hours troopers were jumping from one accident to another in that area. At least six accidents were reported before 5 p.m., he said.
UHP Sgt. Greg Lundell said there were three crashes, with seven cars involved, in the same place the teenagers were hurt.
"They all happened separately, because people don't know how to slow down," Lundell said. "The problem we had was everybody saw the other cars, they'd jam on the brakes and slide into the wall as well."
One narrow miss occurred southbound on I-15 near 200 West in Farmington when a trailer became detached from the semi that was pulling it. The trailer ran off the road, dragging a car underneath it on the way.
A person in the car suffered only minor injuries, Lundell said, and was not taken to the hospital.
Investigators were looking for the reason the trailer detached from the semi.
UHP Sgt. Jimmy Higgs said there were 30 accidents and slide-offs in the Weber County area in a two-hour period in the afternoon.
"Basically, just from noon until two, we had a ton of crashes," he said.
The crashes were mainly on Interstate 15 both northbound and southbound between 4400 South and 21st Street. Higgs said they also had a few crashes on Interstate 84, including a rollover, and had another rollover in Pleasant View.
"It just got really busy, really quick," he said at 4 p.m. Tuesday. "The roads were pretty good, but it was just enough (snow) to turn everything to solid ice. Everyone was still going freeway speeds."
Most of the accidents did not have injuries, and those that did were minor, Higgs said.
UHP Lt. Lee Perry said troopers saw similar situations in Box Elder County.
"Everyone is speeding too fast for the conditions," he said. "The snow is not coming down heavy, not sticking, so the plows can't scrape anything. They are just driving at or above the speed limit."
Perry said there was a multitude of accidents called in right around 1 p.m. Two bad crashes they were called to ended up being on the Idaho side of the border, he said, and they saw a total of six crashes and four slide-offs.
The incidence of slide-offs continued well into Tuesday evening, but no serious injuries were reported.
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