Man films several slideoffs; dozens more reported


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BOUNTIFUL -- Winter weather got the best of Utah drivers Saturday afternoon, and Rhee Braby of Bountiful caught it on tape.

His video, posted on YouTube, has since gone viral.

"It went from focusing on the snow falling to focusing on people sliding down the hill, Braby said. The video begins showing the snow falling outside his home on 400 North. Several cars are seen slowing down and sliding. The driver of one car regained control and made it down the street.

That driver was lucky because as the traffic got worse, so did the accidents.

"This is how it is the first hour of every snowstorm until the plows get here," Braby said.

Another car did a 360. Moments later, a driver lost control, drove into a vacant lot and hit a tree. One pickup is seen driving too fast down 400 North.

"He's got some speed," says Brady as he shooting the video.

The driver almost made it down the hill but hit a curb and lost a hubcap. Another car drove off the road, ended up in the bushes and had to be towed out.

"People don't quite understand how to drive in snow," said Ashley Richards, who also lives on 400 North.

She watched the chaos from her back deck.

Crash totals for Saturday through Sunday*
    Box Elder County
  • 1 injury crash
  • 14 slideoffs
    Weber County
  • 1 injury crash
  • 7 property damage crashes
  • 6 slideoffs
    Salt Lake and Utah counties
  • 31 injury crashes
  • 106 property damage
  • 56 slideoffs
    Summit County
  • 2 injury crashes
  • 152 slideoffs
*Numbers accurate as of 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 22.
Information: Utah Department of Public Safety

"It's scary because there's a bunch of people out that could get hit," Richards said.

Cars were unpredictable. In the video, you can hear people warning others to get out of way. A man yells for a woman to "watch out" as a red vehicle comes down the hill. That vehicle hit a white SUV, which then slammed into a snowplow.

"Towards the end, it didn't matter how fast you were going. It was so slick. People that were stopped, their cars were moving," Braby said.

He says some people were at the top of the hill trying to block the road, but drivers went around them. Neighbors came out to help too.

When he wasn't recording, Braby helped push cars to the side of the street. Others called 911.

"People that don't understand the area have been giving a negative response like we didn't do more to stop people but I don't think they realized how much we were doing to stop people," Braby said.

Comments have been flooding Braby's email since he uploaded the five-and-a-half minute video on YouTube. It's making the rounds on Facebook too.

"I really couldn't tell you why it's so appealing," Braby said.

Whatever the reason, he hopes there's a lesson learned here.

"If you notice a lot of the video was a lot of all-wheel - drive vehicles that were sliding out of control," he said. "As somebody told me last week, ice is a great equalizer. It doesn't matter what you have."

Braby says he talked to everyone who was involved in a spinout or crash and they were all o.k., and some of them even asked him to put his video online.

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