A total of 10 cars crashed near the Mayflower exit on U.S. Highway 40 on Sunday a little after noon. It all happened within a span of 15 minutes, according to Utah Highway Patrol Sergeant Cameron Roden.
The eastbound stretch of road where the crashes took place slopes downhill toward Heber City. The crashes caused the highway to close at the S.R. 248 exit, four miles behind the pileup, for an hour and a half.
Accident reports say it all began around 12:30, when a car lost control and slid off the road into a snowbank and cable barrier.
That caused a chain reaction in which four other cars that were traveling close behind the first one also crashed.
Over the next 10 minutes, some cars managed to swerve around the stopped cars, but others didn’t make it through.
Next came two collisions in succession, each involving two cars. In one case, a car lost traction while braking, spun 180 degrees and rear-ended a car ahead. In the final wreck, one car slid off the road into a snowbank.
Footage that passers-by shared to social media showed snow covering the road and cars overturned.
According to Roden, only one person went to the hospital with minor injuries.
The Utah Department of Transportation reported dozens of other wrecks all over the state Sunday.
