A wrong-way driver was killed in a head-on crash Thursday on Interstate 80 about 50 miles west of the Wyoming border, another deadly collision along a stretch of highway where drivers heading into oncoming traffic have killed multiple people in recent years.
A 78-year-old Colorado man was driving west in the eastbound lanes of I-80 near Coalville, Utah, on Thursday afternoon when his Chevrolet Impala slammed head-on into an eastbound Ford Transit van, the Utah Highway Patrol reports.
Utah Department of Public Safety (DPS) reports that the Impala driver died at the scene, while the van driver suffered a leg injury and was taken by ambulance to a hospital.
The crash happened about 2:30 p.m. near milepost 161, roughly 50 miles west of the Wyoming state line and Evanston.
Investigators do not suspect impairment and are instead looking at whether the driver's age or a medical condition contributed to him traveling the wrong direction, UHP Sgt. Andrew Battenfield told Utah media.
It was the 20th wrong-way driver encountered by Utah Highway Patrol so far this year, Battenfield said.
Across the state line, wrong-way driving has proven deadly on Wyoming’s stretch of I-80 as well.
Wyoming Highway Patrol crash information shows at least seven people have died in Wyoming crashes involving wrong-way drivers on Interstate 80 since 2023, including six in two crashes near Rawlins and another near Evanston earlier this year.
Wrong Way Near Evanston
One of Wyoming’s most recent fatal wrong-way crashes happened Jan. 31 near Evanston.
Duane Derrick, 40, of Logan, Utah, was driving a Chevrolet pickup east in the westbound lanes of I-80 when he encountered an oncoming semitrailer.
Both drivers “reacted and swerved to the north shoulder, colliding head-on,” the Wyoming Highway Patrol reported.
Derrick died at the scene, and the semi driver was taken to a local hospital, treated and released.
Paige Sequeira of Ogden, Utah, recorded the aftermath while traveling along I-80. Derrick’s pickup had been crushed into twisted wreckage, while the semitrailer had traveled hundreds of feet off the highway and down an embankment.
Looking at the wreckage, Sequeira had one question: “How did he not see him?”
Five Killed Near Rawlins
A far deadlier wrong-way crash unfolded on I-80 east of Rawlins on Jan. 22, 2023.
Wyoming Highway Patrol received a report at 6:52 p.m. that a Dodge Ram 3500 truck was traveling east in the westbound lanes. Six minutes later, troopers learned it had crashed.
The pickup, driven by Arthur Nelson, collided with two vehicles. A semitrailer swerved into the median to avoid the wreck, crossed into the eastbound lanes and slammed head-on into a Ford F-150. Both vehicles burst into flames.
Five young people ages 18-23 inside the Ford were killed.
Trooper Corey McCallister wrote that Nelson insisted he hadn't been driving the wrong way and said he was headed west toward Rawlins on his way home to Tennessee.
When McCallister pointed out Tennessee was in the opposite direction, Nelson responded, “That’s what GPS told me.”
Nelson eventually admitted using meth the previous day. He later pleaded guilty to five counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and was sentenced to 98-110 years in prison.
For Phil Prime, who lost two daughters in the crash, the devastation was simpler.
“There will be a couple of voices missing now,” he told Cowboy State Daily shortly after the crash.
Utah's Push
Wrong-way driving is a persistent enough problem in Utah that the state has spent years trying to prevent drivers from getting onto high-speed roads in the wrong direction.
Utah's Strategic Highway Safety Plan says the state averages about 30 wrong-way crashes annually, with roughly one-third resulting in death or serious injury.
The state's Highway Safety Office data show 303 drivers were involved in wrong-way crashes from 2020 through 2024. Nearly one-quarter — 72 drivers — were impaired.
Utah has also turned to technology to try to stop drivers before they reach the highway. UDOT began installing detection systems that use radar and cameras to spot vehicles entering ramps in the wrong direction, trigger flashing “Wrong Way” signs and alert highway officials and UHP if the driver keeps going.
“One quick decision can lead to fatal mistakes,” Utah Department of Transportation Traffic and Safety Director Robert Miles said when the system was announced. “We hope this system can help people quickly realize they made a wrong turn and flip around before it’s too late.”
The crashes on both sides of the Wyoming-Utah line show why transportation officials have spent years trying to solve the problem: A wrong turn onto an interstate can turn deadly.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
