Dog possibly to blame for deadly auto-pedestrian crash in Taylorsville
Jul 28, 2020, 7:08 PM
Police closed off a section of 3200 West on Tuesday while they investigate a crash that killed a child and injured two other people. Photo credit: Steve Breinholt, KSL TV.
TAYLORSVILLE – A deadly auto-pedestrian crash killed a two-year-old girl and seriously injured that girl’s twin sister and mother. And investigators say it appears a dog is to blame.
Police were called to the scene of an auto-pedestrian crash on 3200 West north of 5300 South in Taylorsville before 3 p.m. on Tuesday. Once officers arrived, they saw a mother and her twin two-year-old girls were seriously hurt after being hit by a car.
Chain reaction auto-pedestrian crash
Investigators say the woman was pushing her twins in a stroller on the east sidewalk of 3200 West while a gold Honda Accord and a white pick-up were traveling northbound. Unified Police Sergeant Melody Gray said a dog darted out into the road, causing a chain reaction crash.
“The Accord stopped for a dog that was running across the road,” Gray said, “and was rear-ended by the pick-up truck, sending that Accord into a spin and a slide, striking the stroller and the mother.”
At first, officers were told that both twins died in the crash. Gray said they later determined one had survived and was taken to the hospital in extremely critical condition. The mother was hospitalized in critical condition. Neither driver was hurt.
Speed an unknown factor
The pick-up had some damage to the right front section, but the Honda had serious damage to both ends. The impact of the car also caused a massive hole in a cinder block wall where it hit the stroller. At the time of publication, officers didn’t know how fast either vehicle was traveling.
“They [forensics crews] will be able to make those determinations and get estimated speeds of both vehicles,” Gray said.
At first glance, Gray said it doesn’t appear speed was a major factor in the crash. For now, it doesn’t appear that the pedestrians or the drivers did anything wrong.
“We just had a stroller on the sidewalk. They weren’t in the road, crossing against traffic, or anything. This is really a tragedy,” said Gray.
Investigators are also trying to determine who owns the dog that caused the crash.
“We have witnesses that also saw that dog, but we don’t know exactly where that dog is, right now,” Gray said.
