SALT LAKE COUNTY
Crash on Wasatch Boulevard, Fort Union Boulevard or the road into Big Cottonwood Canyon? Get a free case review, with no attorney fees unless we win.
About 33,000 people live in Cottonwood Heights, yet the traffic on its roads comes from the whole valley. The city sits at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon, so powder mornings, summer trailhead crowds and road-cycling season all squeeze through the same short list of streets. UDOT’s crash counts for each Cottonwood Heights street are on our Cottonwood Heights’ most dangerous roads page.
Climbing grades, hairpin curves and months of snowpack, shared by skiers, buses, delivery trucks and cyclists. With a rock wall on one side and a drop on the other, canyon collisions leave drivers little room to avoid each other.
The bench road linking the two canyon mouths; south of Fort Union Boulevard it carries SR-210 toward Little Cottonwood Canyon. Riders and canyon-bound drivers move at very different speeds, and ski traffic lines up along it on winter mornings.
The city's main commercial street, with shopping-center driveways, turning traffic and people on foot between I-215 and the east bench.
Where the belt route empties regional traffic onto local streets. Merge and queue crashes build here, and on storm days canyon backups can reach the ramps.
When the traction lights are on, UDOT enforces a traction law on SR-190 and SR-210 under administrative rule R920-6. Two-wheel-drive vehicles need 3PMSF-rated tires on all wheels or chains on at least two drive wheels, and AWD or 4WD vehicles need at least M+S tires on all wheels. A driver who slid without that equipment will struggle to call the crash unavoidable.
Who investigates
Cottonwood Heights has its own police department for city streets, and the Utah Highway Patrol handles I-215 and the canyon road. Because the canyon highway is a state route and plowing, closures and traction enforcement are public functions, a claim about road conditions may need a one-year notice of claim.
No matter who caused the crash, your personal injury protection pays at least $3,000 of medical bills and 85% of lost gross income, up to $250 per week for a maximum of 52 weeks (Utah Code § 31A-22-307). Our guide explains Utah's no-fault rules.
An ambulance down from the canyon mouth and an emergency workup can exhaust that coverage at once. To recover pain, suffering and other general damages from the responsible driver, Utah Code § 31A-22-309 requires at least one of:
With one of those met, the responsible driver's liability carrier owes the full claim. If that carrier's limits are too low, your underinsured motorist coverage can pay on top of theirs.
Under Utah Code § 78B-5-818, your damages fall by your share of fault, and you recover nothing if that share reaches 50% or more.
On canyon roads the question is almost always speed. Utah Code § 41-6a-601 requires drivers to go no faster than is reasonable and prudent for existing conditions, naming curves, winding roads and weather, so a driver who lost control on ice has usually described their own negligence. On Wasatch Boulevard, expect the insurer to ask where a cyclist was riding. Canyon witnesses scatter, so get their details at the scene.
Deadlines
Four years for most injury claims (§ 78B-2-307), two for wrongful death, and a one-year notice for claims against UDOT, UTA, Salt Lake County or the city (§ 63G-7-402). Read the deadline guide.
Head-on and slide-off crashes on Big Cottonwood Canyon Road where another driver's speed, tires or lane position caused the loss of control.
Riders struck on Wasatch Boulevard by passing or turning drivers. Our bicycle accident guide covers how these claims are proven.
Rear-end and merging impacts as canyon traffic backs up on winter mornings, including shuttles and resort vehicles.
Turning and parking-lot exit collisions along Fort Union Boulevard, where a driver leaving a business must yield to traffic already on the road (§ 41-6a-903), and pedestrians hit in crosswalks (§ 41-6a-1002).
Your UM coverage fills the gap when the other driver has no insurance or leaves. A no-contact phantom vehicle requires clear and convincing proof beyond your own testimony under § 31A-22-305, so write down plates and witness names.
Cottonwood Heights crash suits are filed in the Third Judicial District Court for Salt Lake County, at the Matheson Courthouse, 450 South State Street, or the West Jordan courthouse, 8080 South Redwood Road. Most cases resolve without a trial, but we prepare each one as though it will go to one. Visit our Cottonwood Heights personal injury page and the stages of a Utah injury case, or call (801) 921-5134. Free consultation. No attorney fees unless we win. Hablamos Español.
General information on Utah law for people injured in Cottonwood Heights, not legal advice about your case. Results turn on the facts, and past outcomes are no guarantee of future ones.