ST. GEORGE, UT : Plume of black smoke blinds driver, leads to T-bone crash on Wednesday, November, 15th 2017

Limited vision caused by the exhaust of a large diesel truck reportedly contributed to a T-bone crash in a busy intersection Wednesday.

Shortly after 5 p.m., officers and emergency personnel were dispatched to a crash at the intersection of S. Mall Drive and E. Riverside Drive involving an SUV and a white Toyota Camry.Officers found the Toyota in the middle of the intersection extensively damaged and blocking the outside lane of Riverside Drive, causing eastbound traffic to come to a stop. The long line of cars began to move once traffic was redirected into a single lane.

The collision was reported as an injury crash, but responders found that none of the occupants in either vehicle suffered any serious injuries or had to be transported to the hospital.

After speaking with the drivers and witnesses, officers learned the Toyota was heading west on Riverside Drive when the driver entered the left-turn lane directly behind a large truck as the SUV was heading east on the same road, St. George Police Sgt. Choli Ence said.

The truck accelerated as it entered the intersection and was able to make the turn while the traffic light was still yellow, sending a large plume of thick smoke back toward the Toyota which obscured the driver’s vision in the process.The woman also accelerated directly behind the truck, intent on turning left onto Mall Drive, and was struck on the passenger’s side of the vehicle by the eastbound SUV entering the intersection on a green light. The impact spun the Toyota and crushed both passenger-side doors.

The woman driving the Toyota told officers she was unaware that the left-turn arrow had turned red when she started into the turn and believed she could clear the intersection after making the turn.

Ence added that the Toyota driver told officers “she was behind a big diesel truck that gunned it through the turn on a flashing yellow arrow, but because of the smoke she followed right behind on what she thought was a flashing yellow, but the light was already red before her vehicle was struck by the SUV.”

Multiple officers responded to the crash to clear the intersection and redirect traffic, along with firefighters and paramedics who tended to the chaotic scene.

This report is based on statements from police or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.

Source :
Plume of black smoke blinds driver, leads to T-bone crash