FRUIT HEIGHTS — Watching her younger sister drive through an intersection turned into a horror film within seconds, says a Highland woman.
Kaiti McPhearson was traveling to Weber State University at 2:30 p.m. Friday. She had just gone through the intersection of Nicholls Road and U.S. 89 when she looked in her rearview mirror in time to see her 17-year-old sister, driving a Honda Accord, hit a BMW that turned left.
“It was like watching a horror film when those two cars smashed together,” McPhearson said.
McPhearson said the light had barely turned yellow. Another sister and a brother were also inside the Honda Accord.
McPhearson declined to give her sister’s name, but said her mother, a registered nurse traveling in another vehicle, rode in the ambulance with her sister to Ogden Regional Medical Center.
The family was traveling to a graduation ceremony for yet another sister, who was receiving her nursing degree.
“I felt bad for the other driver; he was young,” McPhearson said.
McPhearson said she knows her sister tried to stop when she saw the white car turn left, “but she couldn’t.”
Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Arik Beesley said the 17-year-old driver of the BMW made a left turn from U.S. 89 onto Nicholls Road and was T-boned by the Honda Accord.
Beesley said the BMW driver was taken to McKay-Dee Hospital in serious condition.
Troopers closed U.S. 89 going north at Nicholls Road for about 90 minutes while they investigated the scene. Traffic was detoured to Main Street in Kaysville.
Troopers would not release the names of the drivers. Citations are pending the completion of the investigation.
Meanwhile, some of those who live in the area walked to the corner.
Jane Reiser, a neighbor, said she avoids making a left turn at that intersection whenever possible.
“If you don’t, you’re a sitting duck while cars whiz by you on either side,” she said.
“People don’t slow down,” said Lisa Cloward, who has lived in the area for the past 20 years.
She said the light has been at the intersection for at least eight years, but it still does not help, “even though no one gets killed anymore.”
“The nice truck drivers will lay on their horns when they’re coming through,” Cloward said.
She said it is the first light commuters hit when traveling north on U.S. 89. The speed limit is 55 mph, but most drivers are going faster.
Cloward said the corner needs a protected light to help drivers make a left turn safely.
“How expensive can that be?”
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