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HOLLADAY — A man is in critical condition after his car hit a concrete barrier while traveling at speeds estimated over 100 miles per hour.
It happened at Knudsen's Corner, on I-215 near 6200 South, around 1 a.m.
Witnesses told investigators the car passed them at speeds that appeared to reach nearly 140 miles per hour. They say when the speeding car reached a curve in the road it failed to turn, and crash into the median instead.
"The vehicle struck the concrete barrier and the center median," said Sgt. Donovan Lucas of the Utah Highway Patrol. "It did severe damage."
The vehicle "slid down the wall" for several feet and the driver - a 41-year-old man from Sandy who was not wearing a seat-belt - was ejected over the wall into the opposite lanes, according to UHP Sgt. Ted Tingey.
The man was taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Alcohol and speed were believed to be the main factors in the accident, Tingey said.
"It's another tragic circumstance that didn't need to happen," he added.
The accident followed a grim weekend of crashes due to suspected impaired driving.
- About 1:45 a.m. Sunday, Paul A. Velo, 38, missed turned on state Route 224 and his car rolled. Velo, who was not wearing a seat-belt, was ejected and killed. Impaired driving was suspected in that crash, Tingey said.
- A couple of hours before that accident, UHP troopers responded to another fatal rollover accident. A group had just left a concert at Saltair when the driver lost control of his car on state Route 202 and rolled. The passenger, Joshua J. Wallace, 22, was not wearing a seat-belt and was partially ejected and killed. The driver, Jacob Carl Jensen, 28, of Boulder, Wyo., was arrested for investigation of automobile homicide and driving under the influence.