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SALT LAKE CITY — A woman was extricated from her vehicle and a man was arrested after a crash on westbound I-80 that caused a long backup during the Thursday morning commute.
The accident occurred on westbound I-80 near Bangerter Highway around 6:45 a.m., Utah Department of Transportation officials said in a tweet. An SUV driving westbound ran into the back of a passenger vehicle, causing a significant amount of damage, according to Utah Highway Patrol trooper David Wurtz.
The female driver of the passenger vehicle had to extricated from her car and was transported to Intermountain Medical Center in serious condition.
The driver of the SUV was arrested on suspicion of driving while impaired, Wurtz said. Investigators located an open beer can on the roadway just outside of the SUV after the collision. Witnesses told troopers the SUV was traveling at a high rate of speed at the time of the accident, Wurtz said.
The two right lanes were temporarily blocked by the accident, according to KSL Traffic Center. The left lane remained open and the center lane reopened around 7:50 a.m., but traffic was stopped and delays were backed up to the I-215 west side belt.
All the lanes reopened around 8 a.m., but some residual delays remained on westbound I-80 for morning commuters.
Contributing: Heather Kelly
