This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Monday brought five more deaths to Utah's roadways, extending a spate of traffic crashes that has claimed 14 lives since Thursday.

Three people died and four others were injured in a four-car crash at about 11:55 a.m. Monday on State Road 201 near the Great Salt Lake.

A westbound Chevrolet Blazer began moving erratically, witnesses say, and crossed over into eastbound lanes near 11400 West and S.R. 201.

Utah Highway Patrol spokesman Brian Hyer said the Blazer struck the side of a Ford Contour, which was forced into an oncoming Chevrolet pickup. An adult and two children in the Contour were injured, though their injuries were not life-threatening, Hyer said.

The Blazer continued against the eastbound traffic and hit a Ford F-350 pickup head-on. Three people in the Blazer died, and the fourth remained in critical condition Tuesday, UHP said. No one in either of the trucks was injured.

Among the victims in the Blazer were driver Kristal Lyttle, 28, and passengers Craig Grover, 22, and Bernadette Pacheco, 29. Police did not know their hometowns.

Evidence of drugs and alcohol was found in the Blazer, Hyer said, but whether they contributed to the crash was still under investigation Monday.

The adult victims were taken by ambulance to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray and the children were taken to Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City.

Eastbound and westbound lanes of S.R. 201 were closed at 11400 West for about 4½ hours.

In a separate crash Monday, a Tooele County man died after his company pickup rolled off U.S. Highway 40 near Duchesne.

Timothy Price, 25, of Grantsville, was driving with a male passenger, also in his 20s, when the car drifted off the shoulder of the road at about 3:30 a.m., said Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Amy Fallows. Price was able to get back on the roadway but overcorrected and began fishtailing on the icy pavement.

The two-ton truck left the shoulder again and rolled. Price was not wearing a seat belt. He was ejected and pinned beneath the truck as it came to rest on the driver's side. He died at the scene.

The passenger, who was buckled up, suffered only minor injuries and was taken to the hospital.

In yet another crash, one person died Monday afternoon in Murray. The death was the result of a head-on collision near 6520 South and 900 East, said Sgt. Brian Wright. Police were releasing no further details as of Monday night.

— Bob Mims contributed to this story —

A spate of fatalities

Nine others have died in traffic wrecks in recent days.

Sunday • Shannon Lee Taylor, of North Glenn, Colo., and Juan Carlos Frayre, 32, of Utah County, died in a sequence of hydroplaning crashes near Leeds on Interstate 15 in Washington County. Taylor, a semitrailer truck driver, saw Frayre's car pitch off the highway and rushed to help Frayre and his passenger. The three were standing near the highway when another car hydroplaned off the road and hit them. Frayre's passenger, a woman in her 20s, was critically injured.

Saturday • Deyon Cowan, 52, of Provo, died after she and two other people were hit by a car while they were walking across I-15 late at night. Cowan, her son and his girlfriend were in a car that ran out of gas near Lehi. The son and his girlfriend were critically injured but were recovering.

Brothers M'Gwire and Bridger Ferguson, ages 7 and 10, died after the car they were in spun off a snowy State Road 165 in Cache County. The boys' sisters — a 9-year-old and the 18-year-old driver — were not seriously injured.

Katie Lynne Miller, 21, of Roy, died early in the morning near 1150 South and 5500 West near Ogden, where her car left the road after hitting an icy patch of road on a series of S-curves.

Friday • Mary Sue Dutson, 49, of Lynndyl, died after her Buick LeSabre collided with a pickup truck hauling hay about 7:15 p.m. on State Road 132 in Juab County. Troopers said the Buick was traveling too fast for the wintry road conditions.

Thursday • Kimberly Jo Christensen, 21, of Sandy, died after a semitrailer truck hit the car she was riding in on I-15 near 7800 South in Salt Lake County. The semitrailer was swerving to avoid a vehicle that was slowing down in front of it. The truck driver was critically injured.

Frank Gallegos, 66, of Ogden, died in a hit-and-run crash near 28th Street and Wall Avenue about 5:50 a.m. A 23-year-old Riverdale man later told police he was driving the pickup truck that hit Gallegos.