Summit County
Hurt in a crash with a semi on I-80 or a shuttle bus in Park City? Free consultation, and no attorney fees unless we win.
Park City is a resort town at the top of a freight route. Semis cross the Wasatch on I-80, US-40 heads southeast from Silver Creek Junction toward Heber City and Vernal, and buses and hotel shuttles move visitors between Kimball Junction, the resorts and Main Street.
The main route between Salt Lake City and Park City climbs a long grade, and UDOT uses variable speed limits through the canyon because the weather turns so quickly. Semis crawling up the climb and descending with heavy loads share lanes with ski traffic.
At exit 146, US-40 leaves I-80 toward Heber City and Vernal. Trucks changing highways here slow down, merge and cross lanes, and high-speed rear-end and merge crashes follow.
SR-224 carries resort shuttles, delivery trucks and commuters from the I-80 interchange into town, and it backs up hard on powder mornings and holiday afternoons. Stop-and-go traffic behind a bus is where many rear-end crashes happen.
Kearns Boulevard runs past the high school and middle school toward Kamas, mixing school buses, construction trucks and turning traffic with drivers arriving at highway speed.
Narrow, steep streets with angled parking leave little room for delivery trucks and transit buses, and people walking at night step out between parked cars. Backing and turning crashes are common.
Report and jurisdiction
Park City Police (435-615-5500) cover the city, the Summit County Sheriff's Office covers the Snyderville Basin and Kimball Junction, and the Utah Highway Patrol works I-80, US-40 and the state routes. A public transit bus, a plow or a road defect can make a government entity part of the claim, which requires a notice of claim within one year under Utah Code § 63G-7-402.
In Utah your own auto policy pays first through personal injury protection: under Utah Code § 31A-22-307, at least $3,000 of medical expenses and 85% of lost gross income, up to $250 per week for as long as 52 weeks. More on PIP.
Park City Hospital, Intermountain's hospital at 900 Round Valley Drive, is a state-designated Level IV trauma center, and the most seriously hurt are often moved to a higher-level center in the Salt Lake Valley. For a person covered by Utah PIP, a claim for pain and suffering against the at-fault driver and company opens under Utah Code § 31A-22-309 when there is:
Visitors in rental cars and residents of other states may carry policies written under other states' rules, so the coverage picture takes work. Once a claim is open, the at-fault carrier's insurer owes its full value, and your own UIM coverage can add to a policy that is too small (UIM explained).
Utah Code § 78B-5-818 subtracts your share of fault from what you recover and bars recovery unless the defendants' combined fault is greater than yours. Found 15% at fault, you recover 85%; found 50%, nothing.
In the canyon the carrier will blame the snow and your tires. But a commercial driver still chooses a following distance and a speed, and a bus company still chooses when to put a driver on the road. Early photographs of the road surface and where each vehicle ended up keep the conditions argument honest.
Deadlines
Four years for most crash injuries (§ 78B-2-307), two years for wrongful death (§ 78B-2-304), one year for a notice of claim to UDOT, UTA, Summit County or Park City. Deadline details.
Under the federal definition, a vehicle used in interstate commerce is a commercial motor vehicle if it is rated at 10,001 pounds or more, is designed or used to carry more than 8 passengers including the driver for compensation, or more than 15 without compensation (49 CFR 390.5). Whether a particular shuttle is covered depends on its size and its trips, and that question is worth answering early.
A driver of a passenger-carrying commercial vehicle may drive no more than 10 hours after 8 consecutive hours off duty and may not drive after 15 hours on duty, with caps of 60 hours in 7 days or 70 in 8 (49 CFR 395.5). Peak ski weeks put pressure on those limits.
A commercial driver must wear the seat belt installed at the driver's seat, and in a property-carrying truck every occupant of a belted seat must be restrained (49 CFR 392.16). The driver rule applies to a bus as much as to a truck.
Semis on I-80 and US-40 are covered by the same federal hours, maintenance and insurance rules as any interstate truck, and the carrier, the shipper and a maintenance shop can share fault. Our Utah truck accident guide covers those claims.
If a truck forced you into the barrier in Parleys and kept going, your uninsured motorist coverage may help. When there was no contact, Utah Code § 31A-22-305(6) requires clear and convincing proof beyond your own testimony that the vehicle existed, so record any company name or bus number.
Summit County cases are filed in the Third Judicial District Court at the Silver Summit Justice Center off US-40. Most resolve without trial, but the carrier's driver logs, dispatch records and vehicle data should be the subject of a preservation letter at once. Call (801) 921-5134 or request a free case review. Free consultation. No attorney fees unless we win. Hablamos Español. See our Park City personal injury page and our Utah car accident overview.
General information about Utah law, not legal advice for your case. Every claim turns on its own facts, and past results do not predict future outcomes.