Today the Utah Highway Patrol (UHP) released a report blaming driver inexperience and overheated brakes for a crash that claimed the life of a truck driver in Garden City earlier this month.
On October 10 just after 6:30 p.m., 31 year old Nebraska-based truck driver Ahmed M. Abdelgader was hauling a load of butter through Utah on the way to Colorado, according to HJ News.
As Abdelgader drove through Logan Canyon, Utah troopers say that he started to overheat his brakes and lose control of his truck. From the UHP report: “Several witnesses who had either been passed by the semi or had followed the semi described a very erratic driving pattern through Logan Canyon. They indicated at times the driver of the semi was driving into oncoming traffic, driving across multiple lanes, and swerving into motorists as the semi tried to pass. Witnesses further reported smoke coming from the trailer wheels as the semi came down the canyon.”
As Abdelgader left Logan Canyon and approached the intersection of Highway 89 and SR-30 in Garden City, he was unable to slow his truck and crashed into Pugstones Sporting sporting goods store.
INCREDIBLE: A Garden City sporting goods store cleanup underway after a semi-truck crashes into it- hear from witnesses who were first on scene tonight at 5&6 on @abc4utah pic.twitter.com/pYn0rCRdsM
— Kara Murphy (@karamurphyy) October 11, 2018
Both Abdelgader and his co-driver, Mobark A. Sharif, were taken to the hospital with very critical injuries. Abdelgader passed away in the hospital while Sharif remains hospitalized.
UHP says that the driver’s inexperience with mountain driving contributed to the crash. “The driver was not familiar with driving in a mountainous environment and drove in such a manner as to cause the brakes to overheat. Those brakes failed to operate properly as he descended the hill and attempted to stop at the intersection, thus causing the vehicle to slam into the building,” said UHP.