ST. GEORGE — A woman was sent to the hospital Monday evening after she drove off a steep hill in St. George.
Emergency personnel responded to the crash involving a white Mazda 3 with a single occupant just before 5 p.m. on the eastbound side of Foremaster Drive near the top of Foremaster Ridge.
The woman driving the car, who police describe as being in her 50s or 60s, reportedly began to slow down as she reached the top of the ridge.
“One witness said she was just slowly going down the hill and she pulled off to the shoulder a little bit,” St. George Police officer Joe Deim said.
“Cars were starting to pass, and she was kind of waving them by,” Deim said. “As the witness started to go by her, she kind of looked to the left and looked to the right, and the next thing she knows, she saw the car go off the edge.”
Witnesses called for help, and paramedics arrived on scene within minutes. EMTs found the woman alert and conscious, and she was lifted up the hill on a stretcher.
The woman was loaded into a Gold Cross Ambulance and transported to Dixie Regional Medical Center with injuries that Deim said were not life threatening.
Police are still investigating the exact circumstances that led to the crash.
“We don’t know what the cause was or why she went over,” Deim said.
The car took out a yellow reflective directional street sign as it careened off the edge of the hill. The dirt and brush in the area where the car plunged was visibly disturbed, and the car apparently tumbled over several boulders on its way down the hill. The car ended up about midway down the steep, rocky embankment in an upright position.
Recovering the Mazda from the embankment proved to be a difficult task. It took the wrecker about an hour to drag and maneuver the car through an abundance of boulders.
A St. George City Streets crew also arrived on scene shortly after the crash to address the damaged street sign, which was completely uprooted from the ground.
While the tow truck operator was working, traffic was minimally impacted in the area of the crash as police directed motorists around wrecker.
The car sustained heavy damage and was rendered inoperable. Several parts of the vehicle’s outer frame became detached during the tumble.
This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement and may not contain the full scope of findings.
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