On Sunday, November 20th, 2016 at 5:17 a.m. the Pinal County Sheriff’s 9-1-1 Communications Center received several calls regarding a single vehicle that crashed into a telephone pole on Hunt Highway near East Bella Vista Road, San Tan Valley.
Sheriff Paul Babeu stated, “Deputies and medical personnel responded to the scene and observed that a 1996 Acura passenger car had crashed into the wooden telephone pole. The 20-year-old driver was still unconscious and had to be extricated from the vehicle. When the driver came to, he told deputies he was traveling at 80 mph in the 45 mph zone and lost control of his vehicle. The driver was transported by air ambulance to Scottsdale Osborne where he had surgery for facial fractures and is expected to make a full recovery.”
Deputies were able to determine the driver was traveling westbound on Hunt Highway at a high rate of speed when the vehicle drifted off the roadway. The driver over corrected, lost control and struck the telephone pole.
Deputies do not feel that alcohol or drug impairment were a factor in this accident, but rather speed and inattention were the causes. At the conclusion of the investigation, the driver will be cited for causing this accident.
SRP responded and had to shut off power to the pole and brace the pole before the vehicle could be towed from the scene.
Sheriff Paul Babeu stated, “The driver in this case is extremely lucky given the speed he was traveling, and the impact of the crash, that he was able to come away with non-life threatening injuries. Accidents can happen in a split second. Drivers are reminded to slow down and travel at the posted speed limits.”