This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Gubernatorial candidate Morgan Philpot and two of his campaign workers walked away uninjured after their pickup went off a highway and down a 100-foot embankment Saturday night.
Philpot was in a truck with campaign workers Toby Emory and Keith Kuder as they drove in a caravan with others returning from the Uintah County Lincoln Day Dinner.
The trio was coming over the crest of snowy Daniels Summit on Highway 40 when their Nissan pickup started to fishtail and went over the edge of the embankment. Emory was driving and managed to keep the front end downhill.
Philpot thinks they rolled at least once, but it's kind of a blur.
"I'm an incredible lucky man," he said.
Philpot had looked down to check his phone or iPad, he wasn't sure which, and "within a split second of looking up the car all of the sudden fishtailed," he said. "The next thing you know we're headed over a big, old cliff."
He and the others were uninjured.
"I came out with a bump on my shin, that was it. It's unreal," he said.
Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Steve Winward said slick roads caused the crash.
One of the cars behind them called 911. Another vehicle had a tow rope and pulled the three men up the embankment, he said. Kuder was in the backseat and took the most knocks, but they all managed to walk away.
"I can't even tell you what it's like to look up and see you're about to go off a cliff, what goes through your mind," Philpot said. "It was nice to go home this morning and see my family."
Twitter: @RobertGehrke
Tribune reporter Sheena McFarland contributed to this report.