SUV collides with cow standing on I-15

A Ford Explorer is destroyed hitting a cow on Interstate 15 near mile marker 10 early Sunday morning, Mohave County, Ariz., April 1, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Beaver Dam/Littlefield Fire District, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — The driver and passenger of an SUV escaped injury after hitting a cow standing in the middle of the road on Interstate 15 near Littlefield, Arizona, early Sunday morning.

A Ford Explorer is destroyed hitting a cow on I-15 near mile marker 10 early Sunday morning, Mohave County, Ariz., April 1, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Beaver Dam/Littlefield Fire District, St. George News

Officers and emergency medical personnel were dispatched to the single-vehicle crash on northbound I-15 near mile marker 10 involving a Ford Explorer just before 2 a.m. MST.

Upon arrival, officers found the SUV extensively damaged and the cow lying dead near the outside shoulder of the interstate.

The driver told troopers that he noticed no other vehicles while traveling on the interstate and then came upon the cow standing in the middle of the roadway, trooper Steve Hughes of the Arizona Department of Public Safety said.

The driver told troopers “it was really dark out and the cow was very black,” which gave him no time to respond, apply the brakes or to initiate any other evasive maneuver to avoid hitting the animal.

The driver was able to control the vehicle enough to avoid a rollover, but when the SUV struck the cow, it spun the animal around, resulting in more than one collision with the SUV.

There are cows that graze in the area, Hughes said, but they generally have no access to the interstate. There are right-of-way fences all along I-15 that prevent the animals from getting to the road, unless they jump the fence and a guardrail.

The cow “somehow got over the right-of-way fence near Desert Springs,” Hughes said, “and while we know the cow got through by jumping over or getting around something, we still don’t know how that happened.”

A cow lies dead after being hit by an SUV on Interstate 15 Sunday morning, Mohave County, Ariz., April 1, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Beaver Dam/Littlefield Fire District, St. George News

The cow was tagged with a number that troopers used to attempt to find the animal’s owner. After checking with ranchers in the area, they were unable to locate the owner at the time of this report.

“The ranchers keep those numbers on file with various departments,”  Hughes said. “They started calling each other, but no one has gotten back to us with that information yet.”

The two occupants of the SUV reported no injuries to troopers.

“Thank God for airbags and seat belts,” one emergency responder said at the scene.

The Arizona Highway Patrol and Beaver Dam/Littlefield Fire District responded and tended to the scene.

This report is based on statements from police or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.

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Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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4 Comments

  • ladybugavenger April 1, 2018 at 6:52 pm

    Holy cow! That’s unfortunate!
    (I almost went in a ditch when a squirrel crossed the road lol, I’m sure I would have died if it was cow )

  • KarenS April 2, 2018 at 8:16 am

    I wonder if it was one of Cliven Bundy’s cows. He lets them roam free on nearby golf courses as well.

  • Klaus April 2, 2018 at 3:58 pm

    Was the cow licensed and had current no fault insurance?
    Who is the owner thereof?
    File a claim with their insurance for damages!

    • comments April 2, 2018 at 4:26 pm

      You’re right, the owner of the cow should pay all damages. But it could be Cliven Bundy’s cow, and we know how he is about paying fees.

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