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SALT LAKE CITY — Two more Utah Highway Patrol vehicles were hit on Wednesday, bringing the total number to six in the past 48 hours.
"We're getting to the point our luck is about ready to run out," said UHP Sgt. Todd Royce who made another plea to motorists to slow down during inclement weather.
No troopers were injured in any of the crashes.
On Wednesday, icy roads caused three slide-offs on westbound I-80 in Parleys Canyon near the turnoff for Lamb's Canyon, Royce said. As a trooper was outside his vehicle helping a crash victim about 10:20 a.m. he looked up and saw another vehicle spinning out of control and headed toward him.
The trooper took "evasive action" to get out of the way just before his patrol car was hit, Royce said. The impact of the collision also pushed the patrol car into one of the other vehicles that was in the prior wreck.
Not long after that accident was cleaned up, about 12:15 p.m. in almost the same location, Royce said another trooper was investigating another accident due to speed and weather, when another vehicle slid out of control and hit his patrol car.
On Tuesday, there were four similar accidents involving UHP vehicles from Davis to Utah counties.
"People need to be aware of what's happening in front of them and anticipate the problem," Royce said. "People are getting a kind of a false sense of security. The roads may be a little bit wet and they'll pick their speeds up, and then they'll come into an area where there's a snow squall, and the snow will be packed on the road and they'll hit their brakes really quick."
