95 C4 993

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_13222468?source=most_viewed

A man and his 13-year-old son were critically injured in a crash that may have involved racing in Big Cottonwood Canyon Thursday night.

The 46-year-old man and his son were in a Lotus that entered the canyon on Big Cottonwood Canyon Road at the same time as a Porsche, said Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Don Hutson.

Witnesses reported the two cars appeared to be competing, though police have no reason to believe the two drivers were connected or planned to meet there.

"It looked like the were doing kind of a cat and mouse, both speeding and seeing how the vehicles would perform," Hutson said.

The Lotus driver lost control of the car on a curve near Dogwood Campground, overcorrected and veered into oncoming traffic. The car hit a BMW X5 SUV coming down the canyon. The Porsche drove on.

Emergency crews freed both man and boy from the Lotus, Hutson said. The child was flown to Primary Children's Medical Center in critical condition and the man was taken to Intermountain Medical Center by ground ambulance, also in critical condition.

Their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

Two adults in the SUV were not seriously injured and treated at the scene.

The Porsche driver, meanwhile, returned to the scene about 11 p.m. He denied racing with the other car, but police are investigating the incident to see what, if any, charges might be filed.

2Many Cars

I'm sorry people got hurt and glad it looks like they will be OK but the fact of the matter is racing/cat and mouse or whatever you want to call it is just dumb, especially if you have a passenger. There are plenty of places to drive fast in relative safety but a mountain road in traffic is not one of them.

JasonF

I spent some time driving and sitting in a Lotus Exige S260 that an automotive-journalist friend was reviewing and for the life of me, I can't imagine driving that thing on open roads. You're in such a cramped space, so low to the ground, that even at my gun club's 1 mile closed road I felt uneasy. The thought of taking a car like that on an interstate is terrifying. The car literally is a go cart and won't fare too well in any accident.

goofballdeluxe

I feel sorry for the innocents; namely, the folks in the BMW X5 and the idiot's son.

95 C4 993

Video.......

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=7711556

Sad to see these things happen, regardless of the type of vehicles involved.

Big Cottonwood Canyon isnt a place you can can race cars. On the other hand, cat and mouse is another story and I have seen it before.

hoggel

That's an especially stupid canyon for driving games. Way too much traffic and the penalty for failure is catastrophic even if there aren't any other cars around.

I washed the 993 last night then thought about taking a drive to the Silver Fork Lodge. Had a beer on the patio at home instead. Good thing I didn't go over to that area with a Porsche having left the scene.

2Many Cars

The Porsche driver had a 4 year old with him.... shear stupidity. It's stuff like that that gives all of us a bad rep.

Don Magee

Having driven that road many, many times in my youth I can attest that it is a great place for a spirted drive. Very bad place to lose control, however. I hope everyone recovers.

AOW162435

Porsh.





Andreas

DocTock993

"critically injured" does not equal "Their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening." I just hate sloppy journalism!

Critically stupid driving perhaps....

brucec59

"...the 'Porsh' was ahead of the Lotus..." That's what you get for trying to keep up with a Porsche.

Seriously, that was dumb. With kids in the cars, criminally dumb. I have a 4yo and I'd NEVER do that!