This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A truck driver was critically injured on Friday when his vehicle rear-ended a crude oil tanker in the Heber Valley.
The man was driving his Isuzu flatbed commercial truck uphill on U.S. 40, about five miles west of Heber City, behind a slower-moving crude oil tanker. The Isuzu driver failed to see that he was quickly gaining on the tanker and hit it about 9:45 a.m., according to the Utah Highway Patrol.
The truck driver, whom UHP did not identify, was pinned in his vehicle for at least 45 minutes. Troopers had to shut down westbound U.S. 40 from 10:15 a.m. to about 11 a.m. so fire crews could free him. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition, said UHP Sgt. Jacob Cox. His injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, Cox said.
Investigators did not find any obvious reasons for the crash, such as impairment, though troopers were looking into whether the truck driver was distracted.
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