Parents express concerns over reckless driving trend in Utah County

EAGLE MOUNTAIN, Utah — Reckless driving between two cars in Utah County has left parents concerned.

They shared their worries and videos on an Eagle Mountain community social media page only to discover their close calls were connected.

It’s been over two months since a crash on SR-73 shook the Eagle Mountain community. 48-year-old Rodney Salm and 47-year-old Michaela Himmleberger were innocently killed after a truck allegedly engaging in road rage with another car hit their Porsche head-on.

Parents hoped drivers would have learned from June’s tragedy, but they say the problems persist.

“It’s extremely disturbing to get a phone call from your daughters screaming and crying. They didn’t know what to do,” said Matthew Meyer.

On Saturday, Meyer’s teenage daughters were heading northbound on Ranches Parkway. The girls recorded the altercation between two cars in front of them.

“They were doing the back-and-forth thing where the white car was apparently trying to get past the other one and the brown car wasn’t letting him get past,” said Sgt. Spencer Cannon with the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.

Video shows the driver of the white car stop at the median in front of the Maverik gas station. The driver gets out of the vehicle to allegedly pick up and throw rocks at the other car.

“My daughter didn’t know what to do because she was trying to stop but there were cars behind her and they were pushing her forward,” said Meyer. “She couldn’t stop traffic.”

The other car sped off onto SR-73 where moments later it had a close call with another driver.

“I kind of honked at him and then they ended up rolling down their window and started throwing trash out at the window at me,” said Bryce Robbins.

Robbins said his three children were in his backseat.

“I actually bought a dashcam because of the drivers up here in Utah,” said Robbins.

A Forbes article listed Utah as the top state in the nation for road rage and aggressive driving.

The community and law enforcement are asking drivers to be patient and think about the safety of others.

“Don’t use your car to try to make a point with another driver,” said Sgt. Cannon.

Cannon said the department has received the videos. A traffic deputy plans on running the license plate numbers and tracking down the drivers.

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