Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
TAYLORSVILLE — Two children — a 4-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy — were hospitalized in "extremely critical condition" Saturday after a head-on collision near 1350 West and 5400 South.
The accident also left their mother and another driver hospitalized in serious condition, said Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder.
The 31-year-old mother of the two children was driving a Chrysler 300 east on 5400 South and appears to have drifted into oncoming traffic, colliding head-on into an older, Chevrolet truck driven by a 72-year-old man, according to Winder.
The reason for the accident was unknown, Winder said, and the Major Accident Team will investigate the cause. He did say that impairment did not appear to be a factor.
The mother was wearing a seat belt, said Unified police detective Ken Hansen, adding that there were two children's car seats in the back of the car, but it was unknown if the car seats were used properly.
The names of the victims were not immediately released.
Hansen noted that the speed limit on that road is 40 mph and that a head-on collision, even if everyone is properly restrained, would cause significant trauma, especially to children.
Witnesses of the crash immediately provided "care and assistance" to the victims, according to Winder.
"They provided a great deal of comfort and support," he said. "We thank the community very much for that."
---
Editor's note: Unified Police initially said the 4-year-old child died in the accident but later informed reporters the child had survived. There was also some confusion as to the sex of the children in a previous version of this article. Errors related to both items have been corrected.
Chris Larson is a BYU news media major interning with Deseret News. Contact him at chlarson@deseretnews.com
