Cedar Pocket, Utah- A rollover crash near Cedar Pocket has resulted in two fatalities, with one surviving passenger rushed to St. George Regional Hospital for medical attention.
The accident unfolded as an SUV carrying seven passengers was heading northbound on Interstate 15 near milepost 19.
The initial collision occurred when the SUV struck the center divider, triggering a rollover that saw three of the seven passengers forcefully ejected from the vehicle. These individuals were propelled approximately 40 yards into a nearby ravine due to the crash’s force.
Two of the individuals ejected from the SUV, Guadalupe Montalvo and Mercedes Torreblanca, were declared deceased at the scene. The remaining survivor was airlifted to St. George Regional Hospital for further medical care.
The driver told fire officials she had a violent shimmy or vibration on the front end, and then she lost control of the vehicle, and the left tire was flat. A tire blowout is being considered as a potential cause of the incident.
An Investigation Will Reveal if Tire Blowout is to Blame for Rollover Accident
Reports suggest that a road trip between friends turned deadly, likely due to a tire blowout on the vehicle. Hundreds of people are injured or killed yearly because of tire blowout or tire failure accidents (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2023). Unfortunately, some tire blowouts are caused by defective tires or poor maintenance and repair jobs. When this is the case, the manufacturer of the tire or the company that serviced the tire must be held accountable for the injuries and deaths caused by the crash.
Following a fatal tire blowout crash, it is important that the vehicle and tire involved in the accident are investigated to determine why the tire failed. Tire failure experts are able to determine by examining the tire if the tire failed due to a defect in the tire or if the tire failed for some other reason. When a tire fails because of a defect, injured motorists have a right to bring a claim against the manufacturer and hold it liable for the suffering caused by the crash.
Tire failure experts can also determine if the tire failed because of a mistake made by a repair company. This may be as simple as installing the wrong size tire on a vehicle, installing a tire past its useful life, or repairing a tire that should not be repaired. When a tire fails because of a mistake made by a tire repair shop, injured motorists have a right to bring a claim against the repair shop and hold it liable for the suffering caused by the crash.
The surviving families in this crash should be provided with all the information needed to determine who was responsible for the death of their loved ones.
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The Ammons Law Firm represents clients nationwide in catastrophic injury and wrongful death litigation, with extensive experience in complex auto/tire defect and commercial vehicle cases.
Disclaimer: This post is not legal advice. Information contained in this blog was compiled from third-party sources or is the opinion of the author. Please inform us immediately if false or misleading information is contained in this post.
