MEADOW — One person is dead and another hurt after a motorcycle accident shut down I-15’s southbound lanes this afternoon.
Utah highway patrol trooper Jared Cornea says they just kicked off their “100 Deadliest Days” and were hoping drivers would take extra caution on the roads. He says it’s typical to have around three fatalities over memorial day weekend, but troopers were hoping this year would be the exception.
“We were hoping to not have any this year,” Cornea said,”but unfortunately we’ve started it off on a sad note.”
The motorcycle went down after troopers say it hit a dip and the driver lost control. The man is now in the Utah Valley Hospital. His passenger, 36 year old Randi Mahas, died on scene. Neither were wearing helmets at the time of the crash.
The freeway closed for about three hours while UHP investigated the crash. During that closure UDOT cameras caught people driving through the grass median to jump on the north bound freeway lanes and head back the way they came. Cornea says that isn’t just illegal, but it could be extremely dangerous if oncoming traffic doesn’t slow down. The trooper is pleading with drivers to be more careful on the roads.
“Just please be aware of what’s going on.” Cornea said,”Be patient getting to your destinations and do it safely.”
You can hear more in the audio story below: