SR-248 to Park City
The commuter link between the Kamas Valley and Park City, where drivers push to get around slower trucks and shaded curves hold ice long after sunrise. Head-on and rear-end crashes are the serious ones.
SUMMIT COUNTY
Kamas Car Accident Lawyer
Hurt on SR-32, SR-248 or the Mirror Lake Highway around Kamas? Get a free case review, with no attorney fees unless we win.
Kamas Traffic, Season by Season
Three state highways meet in Kamas. SR-32 is Main Street, running south to Francis and north through Oakley and Peoa to I-80 at Wanship. SR-248 climbs west to Park City, where it becomes Kearns Boulevard. SR-150, the Mirror Lake Highway, begins at Main and Center and heads east into the Uintas. Summer brings trailers and sightseers; winter brings commuters driving to the resorts on snow.
SR-32 north and south
From Francis through town and on to Oakley, Peoa and the Wanship interchange, farm equipment, school buses and through traffic share a rural highway. Left turns into driveways and fields set up many collisions.
Mirror Lake Highway (SR-150)
Utah's highest paved road, cresting Bald Mountain Pass at 10,715 feet. It closes to cars in winter, so the open months pack RVs, boat trailers, motorcycles and cyclists onto narrow lanes and tight curves.
Main and Center
The junction where SR-150 begins, where highway traffic arriving from open country meets people on foot, delivery trucks turning and cars pulling from the curb.
Deer and elk crossings
Big game crosses the valley highways at dawn and dusk. When another driver swerves into you avoiding an animal, speed and lookout still decide who pays.
Who writes the report
Inside city limits it may be local officers or Summit County Sheriff's deputies, who patrol the Kamas–Oakley area; in the surrounding valley and up SR-150 it is the Summit County Sheriff's Office, whose main office is at 6138 Paintbrush Road in Park City, and the Highway Patrol also works the state routes. Confirm the agency and case number before you leave. A county plow, a road defect or a public vehicle triggers the one-year notice of claim in Utah Code § 63G-7-402.
Your PIP Coverage Comes First
Before fault is argued, your own personal injury protection covers at least $3,000 of medical care and lost income at 85% of gross wages, up to $250 a week for 52 weeks (Utah Code § 31A-22-307). See Utah no-fault basics.
The closest designated trauma centers are Level IV hospitals, Park City Hospital over SR-248 and Heber Valley Hospital down SR-32, and serious injuries are often sent on to higher-level care in the Salt Lake Valley. Transport and imaging can use up PIP fast. Utah Code § 31A-22-309 opens a claim for general damages against the at-fault driver when you have:
- Over $3,000 in medical expenses
- Any bone fracture
- A permanent disability or impairment confirmed by objective findings
- Lasting disfigurement
- Dismemberment
- Death from the collision
Once past that line, the at-fault driver's insurer is responsible for the entire claim. When their limits run short, your underinsured motorist coverage can make up the difference.
How Fault Gets Divided
Utah Code § 78B-5-818 cuts your recovery by your percentage of fault and bars it entirely unless the defendants' combined fault exceeds yours.
On SR-248 the insurer argues about following distance on snow; on the Mirror Lake Highway, which vehicle drifted over the line in a curve; at a field access on SR-32, who had to yield. Utah Code § 41-6a-903 puts that duty on the driver turning left across oncoming traffic and on the driver entering from a driveway. Early photographs and witness names keep the argument honest.
Time limits
Four years to sue over most crash injuries, two for wrongful death, and one year for a notice of claim against Kamas City, Summit County or UDOT. The statute of limitations guide has the rest.
Kamas Crash Cases We Handle
Commuter crashes on SR-248
Head-on, passing and rear-end collisions between Kamas and Park City, often in low light or on ice.
Mirror Lake Highway crashes
Summer collisions with RVs and trailers, run-off-road crashes on curves, and crashes far from cell coverage where evidence has to be reconstructed later.
Farm and field-access collisions
Tractors, hay trucks and pickups entering SR-32 or turning off it, where the closing speed does the damage.
Motorcycle and bicycle crashes
Riders drawn to the Uinta roads in summer. Motorcycle policies are not required to include PIP (Utah Code § 31A-22-302), so a rider's claim works differently; see our motorcycle claim guide.
Uninsured and hit-and-run drivers
If the other driver has no insurance or leaves the scene, your own uninsured motorist coverage usually carries the claim, and the PIP threshold does not apply to it. Our hit-and-run guide lists the steps.
Right After a Kamas Crash
- Call 911; up SR-150 you may need to move to reach a signal. Note which agency responds and the case number.
- Be examined the same day at Park City Hospital, Heber Valley Hospital or wherever EMS takes you; symptoms of concussion and spinal injury can lag by hours.
- Photograph the vehicles, lane positions, snow or gravel on the road and any animal involved before the scene is cleared.
- Get names and phone numbers from witnesses; summer visitors will be gone within days.
- Open a PIP claim with your insurer and put off any recorded statement for the other driver's company.
Summit County car crash suits go to the Third District Court at the Silver Summit Justice Center. Most settle first, yet we prepare every file for trial. Call (801) 921-5134. Free consultation. No attorney fees unless we win. Hablamos Español. More: Kamas personal injury, Park City car accidents and the steps in a Utah injury case.
Informational content on Utah law for Kamas Valley readers; it is not legal advice about your situation. Every outcome depends on its facts, and earlier results do not predict yours.