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Amanda Butterfield ReportingA barbecue grill that fell from the back of a truck caused a near-fatal accident today on I-15.
Lt. Bruce Riches/UHP: "I'm sure these ladies, as they look back on it are going to proclaim they had guardian angel over them."
From the looks of the car, it appears a miracle the two women are alive after they were smashed between two semi trucks in Utah County. It was caused by an object flying out of a vehicle, an all-too-common problem. Every day, troopers get dozens of calls about foreign objects on the freeways. Those objects endanger drivers, and officers say cleaning up roads is one of the more dangerous aspects of their jobs.
Troopers say they've seen it all on the freeways -- mattresses, couches, even a hot tub once. Today it was a BBQ. The worst part is that it's mostly preventable.
There's a lot Utah Highway Patrol wants you to learn from this wreck. The first thing, secure your loads.
Sgt. Glen Porter, UHP: "It's the driver's responsibility to secure everything on the vehicle."
Since April 1, in Salt Lake County, dispatchers have received 356 calls about fallen debris on the road.
Sgt. Glen Porter: "We're constantly, every day pulling things out of the road."
Recently we've seen a fridge and a port-a-potty fall onto the freeway. The fridge made a mess of traffic on I-15 near Roy, I-15 was shut down because of it. And the port-a-potty caused a back-up in North Salt Lake; a few people were hurt, and the freeway was closed. Fallen items like this, usually cause a chain reaction.
Here's tip number two: Don't tailgate. And tip number three, if something falls out of your car, or you see debris on the road, don't go get it yourself. That's what the owner of the BBQ did, and it's dangerous. Instead, call police.
Sgt. Glen Porter: "We turn on emergency lights, and sirens and serpentine across the lanes of traffic, and that allows the trooper to pull the debris out."
Here's the last tip, and it may be hard to do: If you are driving and see something on the road, often times it's best to just hit it straight on rather than swerve to miss it.
Sgt. Glen Porter: "You might suffer damage to your vehicle, but it won't start a chain reaction crash."
The owner of that BBQ was cited with failure to secure a load. If someone had died, he could have been facing more serious charges.
