Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
MORGAN — Two women died Saturday and two infants in their vehicles were hospitalized in separate crashes Saturday in Morgan and Parowan.
The accidents prompted Utah Highway Patrol officials to warn Utahns that winter driving conditions are here and motorists need to be prepared.
Margaret Mimnaugh, 23, of Morgan County, was driving the wrong way on I-84 near Morgan when her car was struck by a semitruck, troopers said. Her 2-month-old baby was injured and sent to a hospital.
The accident occurred shortly after 7 a.m. as Mimnaugh, driving a car, traveled west in the eastbound lanes of I-84 northwest of Morgan. The driver of the semitruck was eastbound. "The semi was unable to avoid the sedan and they hit head-on, killing the female driver of the sedan," according to a statement from the UHP.
One of the responding officers was able to safely remove the baby from the sedan. The driver of the truck, who had no time to react, was shaken up but not injured, said UHP Capt. Chris Simmons.
Investigators don't know why Mimnaugh was driving the wrong way. In this particular case, there were warnings in place to prevent this, such as lighted wrong-way signs, he said.
"You have seconds in these cases. Both vehicles are traveling at freeway speeds."
The other accident occurred about 1:20 a.m. when the driver of a Ford F150 pickup truck carrying two passengers, including a baby girl, lost control on black ice while traveling south on I-15 north of Parowan.
The truck ended up across the median in the northbound lanes of the freeway.
"The vehicle rolled over, ejecting all three occupants blocking both northbound lanes," a UHP statement said.
A woman in the truck died at the scene while a baby girl was transported by helicopter to a hospital. A man in the vehicle was taken by ambulance to a hospital.
"We're lucky that both (children) were in proper car seats," Simmons said of the two fatal crashes.
The southern Utah crash led to the closure of the northbound lanes of I-15 at the location for about two and a half hours while officials investigated and to give the medical helicopter access to the scene.
Simmons encouraged motorists to be mindful of winter conditions and take extra precautions.
"During the past two days, we've investigated over 160 crashes, whether it's a slide-off or a crash itself," the captain said.
"You can do nothing better than just slowing down and increasing your following distance. ... Ice is ice. Be aware of your circumstances, and the performance of your vehicle."
Correction: An earlier version had an incorrect photo of the I-84 crash supplied by the Utah Department of Public Safety.
