Guidelines for driving in reduced visibility highway situations

SALT LAKE City — A dust storm created reduced visibility driving situations, which led to Sunday’s 22-car or truck pileup on I-15 in Millard County that took the lifestyle of eight men and women.

The Utah Highway Patrol reported dust storms like Sunday’s are not incredibly typical in the condition, but minimal visibility driving situations can materialize calendar year-round.

“You know, it is not anything that takes place just about every day. We do have incidences wherever we have equivalent cases regardless of whether it be fog or major rain, or you will find times exactly where we have fires in the spot and we have smoke drifting throughout the freeway,” mentioned Sgt. Cameron Roden with UHP. “They are conditions that we operate into from time to time, but it is not anything that occurs commonly.”

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Roden mentioned the finest factor to do in very low visibility problems is to lower your pace.

“Pace is constantly a variable when it arrives to visibility, mainly because if you happen to be heading fast and can not see, most probably if there is heading to be some sort of hazard you’re likely to operate into difficulties,” he included. “So, we counsel that persons absolutely gradual down.”

Motorists in Sunday’s lethal pileup noted these types of undesirable visibility, they couldn’t see stopped visitors until it was much too late.

“All over the investigation, which is what we are observing is the visibility was just so weak that that’s what led to the chain response crash,” Roden reported.

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In accordance to Roden, the ideal-scenario situation is to avoid the possibility altogether by pulling off the road if attainable.

“If you do have to prevent mainly because you just are unable to see we want you to get properly off the road so that we don’t have motor vehicles coming up powering you and hitting you,” he included.

But when roads are tight and there is not a large amount of home on the shoulder, Roden said it may possibly be most effective to continue on on at a lower velocity.

“Often stopping on the shoulder just isn’t a true safe and sound alternative possibly,” he said. “Due to the fact they may well be making an attempt to swerve and not see you right until the previous next there either.”

If you do pull on to the shoulder, he stated to spend awareness to dry grass and other fuel that could easily spark a wildfire with how dry disorders are statewide this summer time.

“So, if you have to keep on by means of it, just do it at a pace that is only safe and sound that you can react to individuals hazards,” Roden extra. “So, if it is really heading really slow, then at the very least if there is a crash that collision is likely to be at lower speed which is likely to lessen injury.”