A Wyoming Department of Transportation snowplow driver suffered minor injuries Monday morning when a semitrailer plowed into it on Interstate 80 in southwestern Wyoming.
The driver of the snowplow was transported to Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County in Rock Springs after it was hit at about 9:10 a.m. when a commercial truck hit the plow while trying to pass another car in the left lane of the interstate near milepost 125 east of Rock Springs, the Wyoming Highway Patrol reports.
The truck collided with the back of the snowplow, sending both vehicles into the median. While the driver of the snowplow had minor injuries, the report doesn’t say whether the driver of the semitrailer was hurt.
Monday’s crash is the 22nd involving a WYDOT snowplow so far this winter season, said WHP Sgt. Jeremy Beck, adding that these types of crashes usually involve people driving too fast for conditions, which the driver of the semitrailer was ticketed for.
“We’ve had way too many snowplows hit,” Beck said, adding there’s often a simple solution to avoiding crashes. “Slow down when you’re experiencing some hazardous weather.”
Because snowplows can kick up clouds of snow and debris while operating, they can be more difficult to see in adverse conditions, he said.
When that happens, “motorists don’t know they’re driving into an area with a snowplow up ahead,” Beck said. “Just because the roadway’s open doesn’t mean you need to be driving at whatever the normal speed limit is.”
Last winter, 18 WYDOT snowplows were hit while out clearing Wyoming roadways, WHP reports. The winter of 2020-21 saw 26 hit and 23 in 2019-20.
Beck said that 22 crashes involving snowplows at this point in the winter season is high.
“We still have a few more months of winter weather we’re probably going to experience,” he said.
Dangerous Morning On I-80
Along with the snowplow collision east of Rock Springs on Monday morning, emergency responders also were busy with a serious crash near milepost 335 of westbound I-80 between Laramie and Cheyenne.
The Albany County Sheriff’s Office reports that four semitrailers were involved in a crash at about 8 a.m.
Four people were hurt, the ACSO reports, with three transported by ambulance to Ivinson Memorial Hospital in Laramie. The fourth was flown by Wyoming Life Flight, also to Laramie. No other information about how serious the injuries were or what caused the crash was immediately available.
