Woman killed in rear-end collision on I-15 south of Cedar City

CEDAR CITY — A woman died Sunday evening after the car she was driving was hit from behind by a large truck on Interstate 15 about 10 miles south of Cedar City.

Scene of a fatal rear-end collision on Interstate 15 about 10 miles south of Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 26, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

The incident, which occurred just before 6:30 p.m. on northbound I-15 just south of mile marker 47, involved a white Nissan Sentra and a large equipment service truck.

Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Bambi Baie said both vehicles were northbound in the right lane when the collision occurred.

“For some reason, vehicle No. 1, the big commercial vehicle, rear-ended the car,” Baie said. “We don’t know why yet. We’re still looking into what happened to cause that.”

Following the initial collision, the truck rolled over the cable barrier and into the median between the northbound and southbound lanes of I-15 before coming to rest near the left shoulder of the southbound side. Meanwhile, the Nissan ended up next to the cable barrier on the left shoulder of the northbound side. Both vehicles were heavily damaged in the crash.

The driver of the Nissan was transported to a hospital by Intermountain Life Flight helicopter but later died from her injuries, UHP told Cedar City News just after 10 p.m.

Meanwhile, the other driver was taken to the hospital by ground ambulance.

“I don’t know his condition,” Baie said of the truck driver.

The incident impacted traffic on both sides of I-15 for more than three hours, Baie said, noting that northbound traffic was diverted at Exit 42 and onto the Old Highway 91 frontage road that passes through Kanarraville, to Exit 51.

Scene of a fatal rear-end collision on Interstate 15 about 10 miles south of Cedar City, Utah, Dec. 26, 2021 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Many northbound cars that were already past the detour had to stop and wait for an extended period of time on the interstate.

“We had to land Life Flight and we were trying to get the scene diagrammed and marked up, Baie said, adding, “Southbound wasn’t impacted as long, and it was never completely shut down. Just the left lane was closed temporarily due to the fact that we had all the ambulances and fire trucks.”

Even as late as after 11 p.m., tow truck operators were still working to remove the wrecked vehicles and debris from the scene.

Although the deceased driver was not initially identified pending family notifications, UHP officials released her name on Tuesday as Sonia J. Sainz Carrasco, 37, of Indio, California.

Updated Dec. 28, 4:30 p.m. to include the name of the driver who died.

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