SALT LAKE COUNTY
Hurt in a crash with a semi, dump truck or concrete mixer in Draper? Our office is here in Draper. Free case review, and no attorney fees unless we win.
Almost all highway freight moving between the Salt Lake and Utah valleys squeezes through Draper at the Point of the Mountain. Add the construction on the former prison site and the trucks serving Draper's retail corridors, and the city carries far more heavy-vehicle traffic than its size would suggest.
The interstate climbs a grade across the Point, and loaded trucks slow on the ascent while cars around them are still at highway speed. When traffic backs up near 14600 South, a truck that is late to brake, or one stalled on the shoulder, can start a chain of collisions.
Bangerter (SR-154) ends at I-15 in Draper, so trucks leaving miles of fast state highway have only seconds to sort out the ramps. Merging tractor-trailers and cars cutting across them to reach an exit collide here, and right of way at the moment the lanes join is usually the dispute.
Draper's main east-west road is lined with shopping centers and drive-throughs that trucks deliver to all day. Trailers turning into lots, box trucks stopped at the curb and cars pulling out between them produce angle and rear-end crashes, and storefront cameras often recorded them.
Development on the former state prison land keeps dump trucks, concrete mixers and equipment haulers entering and leaving traffic, along with lane shifts that change from week to week. A crash here can involve the driver, the hauling company, the general contractor and possibly a government entity.
State Street through Draper carries delivery and service trucks past offices, the hospital and residential side streets. Trucks backing out of loading areas and making wide right turns are the main danger to drivers and people walking nearby.
Our office, and who takes the report
West Injury Law is at 13894 S Bangerter Pkwy, Suite 200, a few minutes from the Bangerter interchange and the Point. Draper City Police handle crashes inside city limits, and the Utah Highway Patrol usually takes I-15. If UDOT, UTA, Draper City or Salt Lake County played a part, Utah Code § 63G-7-402 requires a notice of claim within one year.
Even when a commercial truck caused the collision, your own insurer pays the first medical bills through personal injury protection. Utah Code § 31A-22-307 requires at least $3,000 of medical benefits, plus 85% of lost gross income up to $250 each week for as long as 52 weeks. Here is how no-fault coverage works.
That amount rarely covers more than the ambulance and the first emergency visit after a truck impact. Claiming pain, suffering and other general damages from the trucking company requires meeting Utah Code § 31A-22-309 through one of these:
Once you cross that line, you can hold the carrier's liability insurer responsible for everything the crash cost you, including future surgeries, therapy and lost earning ability. If a contractor's truck carried too little, your own UIM coverage may add to what is available, and if it was uninsured, your UM claim is not subject to the threshold. Learn how UIM works.
Utah's comparative fault statute, § 78B-5-818, lets you recover only from defendants whose combined fault exceeds yours, and it reduces the recovery by your own percentage.
A trucking insurer may claim you pulled in too close in front of a climbing truck at the Point, raced a merging trailer at the Bangerter ramps, or failed to see a truck backing out of a site entrance. Warning-device placement, inspection records and the truck's own data frequently show otherwise.
Deadlines for Draper claims
Four years for most vehicle injury suits (§ 78B-2-307), two years for wrongful death (§ 78B-2-304), and one year for a notice of claim against UDOT, UTA, Draper City or Salt Lake County. With so much public road work around Draper, that one-year notice deserves attention. See every Utah injury deadline.
When a commercial vehicle stops on a highway lane or shoulder, the driver must turn on the hazard flashers at once and, within 10 minutes, set out warning devices at about 10 feet and 100 feet behind the truck and 100 feet on the other side (49 CFR 392.22). A stalled rig on the I-15 grade without triangles is a common cause of rear-end crashes.
If the truck stops within 500 feet of a curve or hill crest that blocks the view, the warning signal must be placed 100 to 500 feet back toward the obstruction to give approaching drivers time to react (49 CFR 392.22(b)(2)(iv)). The rise at the Point of the Mountain makes this rule especially relevant.
No commercial vehicle may be driven unless the driver is satisfied that its service brakes, trailer brake connections, steering, lights, tires, mirrors and coupling devices are in good working order (49 CFR 392.7). A brake failure on a descent often traces back to this check.
Trucks may not run on tires with exposed ply, tread separation or an audible leak, and front tires need at least 4/32 inch of tread depth (49 CFR 393.75). A blowout that sends a truck across lanes calls for inspecting the tire itself. Our Utah truck accident guide covers how that evidence is preserved.
If a truck forces you off the road or sheds debris and keeps driving, your uninsured motorist coverage may respond. If it never touched you, Utah Code § 31A-22-305(6) requires clear and convincing proof beyond your own testimony that it existed, so report it immediately and write down anything you saw on the truck.
A Draper truck lawsuit is filed in the Third Judicial District Court for Salt Lake County. Most claims settle without one, but the carrier's inspection reports, tire records and electronic data should be the subject of a preservation letter in the first days. Call (801) 921-5134 or request a free case review, by phone or at our Draper office. Free consultation. No attorney fees unless we win. Hablamos Español. See also our Draper car accident page and Draper personal injury page.
General information about Utah and federal trucking law for people injured in Draper. It is not legal advice, every case depends on its own facts, and past results do not guarantee future outcomes.