Amy Price was driving her Mercury Villager van southbound on the highway on Sept. 12 shortly after 11 a.m. when she veered off the road just south of 2400 North and slammed into the backside of a parked Buick Century at 60 mph. Brent Oborn, of Erda, the occupant of the Buick, was killed in the accident.
Oborn, a mechanic with Quality Automotive in Tooele, was field-testing the Buick for a client when the vehicle stalled. He safely maneuvered the vehicle out of the main flow of traffic and into the west emergency lane. He then called Quality from his cell phone and asked another employee to come help him. The accident occurred while Oborn was waiting for help to arrive.
The Buick sustained significant damage, requiring emergency crews to cut the doors off to extricate Oborn. He was pronounced dead on scene.
Price, the only occupant of the minivan, sustained minor injuries.
When interviewed by police, Price said she had no recollection of the minutes prior to the accident. Her blood was tested for substances which would have contributed to the accident, but tests came back negative.
“We have not received any information that there were drugs and alcohol involved at this point,” said Tooele County Deputy Attorney Gary Searle, adding that those two factors would trigger felony charges.
Without those factors, Searle said it’s up to Tooele City to decide whether they will file misdemeanor charges.
Although, Tooele City Attorney Roger Baker said Price will be cited for improper lookout, the city will not be filing automobile or negligent homicide charges.
“There is no evidence that she was talking on the cell phone, eating or reaching for something,” Baker said. “We could find no evidence of negligence. The only evidence we have is that she swerved at just the time and place to cause the accident. We do not know why she swerved.”
Jamie Belnap: jamieb@tooeletranscript.com
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