At around 6 a.m. on the morning of Saturday September 16, a vehicle traveling over State Highway 389 through the Cane Beds, Arizona, area impacted a vehicle that was parked hazardously in the travel lane. The parked vehicle’s lights were on, but its hatchback was open, causing its rear lights to face upward rendering them non-visible from the road at the time of the collision.
From left to right: The parked vehicle’s hatchback was open, rendering the rear lights non-visible to oncoming traffic. Photos courtesy of Kane County Sheriff Tracy Glover.
Zeb Rogers, a resident of Kanab commuting for work along the highway, had narrowly missed impacting the parked vehicle minutes before. Rogers was attempting to negotiate with the parked car’s owner - who was sitting a distance off the road - to either drive the vehicle off the highway, or to give him the keys so he could do it himself, when the collision occurred.
Kane County Sheriff Tracy Glover, traveling with family on personal business at the time, came across the scene - in his words - “just minutes after they’d crashed, both vehicles were still smoking when I got there.” Per Glover, the owner of the parked vehicle was “not entirely coherent.”
According to Sheriff Glover, the driver of the moving vehicle has medical training, and though seriously injured, had left his vehicle to check if there was anyone in the parked car that needed assistance. Rogers had already dialed 911, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety responded with law enforcement, fire and medical.
The driver of the moving vehicle was transported to St. George via ambulance for medical treatment, while officers of the ADPS escorted the owner of the parked vehicle to a mental health facility.
