A Salt Lake City man was killed in a single vehicle accident Wednesday morning near mile marker 100 on Interstate 80.
According to Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Evan Kirby, the victim, whose name was not released, was riding back home from Wendover with friends on eastbound I-80 early in the morning. The victim’s mother and brother were in another vehicle that was traveling with the car he was riding in, Kirby said.
The white car the victim was in drifted off the road and into the median around 6:50 a.m., Kirby said. The vehicle struck the cable barrier and ended up in the westbound lane of traffic, facing east, he said.
While the passenger received fatal injuries, the driver only received minor injuries in the accident, Kirby said.
The investigation into the cause of the accident is still in its early stages, Kirby said.
Following the crash, which occurred one mile east of Lake Point, I-80 traffic was stopped eastbound and reduced to a single lane in the westbound lane, causing delays to the morning commute. Traffic was stopped on SR-36 from I-80 to Stansbury Park for most of the morning.
UHP stopped traffic in both directions on I-80 shortly after 10 a.m. while the state medical examiner’s office removed the victim from the vehicle. A single westbound lane and eastbound lanes were reopened about 20 minutes later.
