Utah Police: Van Was Going 95-100 Mph

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah State University van that rolled on a northern Utah highway killing eight students and an instructor was traveling at 95 to 100 mph, the Highway Patrol said Thursday.

The finding was based on mathematical formulas using the curvature of skid marks, trooper Jeff Nigbur said. The posted speed limit on the interstate is 75 mph.

Nigbur said instructor Evan Parker, 45, was believed to be driving the 15-passenger van. But investigators want to talk with the two survivors of Monday’s crash to confirm that and get a better understanding of what happened.

University spokesman Jon DeVilbiss said he was shocked by the speed determination. “There’s no good explanation for it and if the driver was Evan Parker, it was uncharacteristic.

“There were three other certified drivers in the van. It’s not conclusive,” DeVilbiss said.

Parker and 10 students from the university’s college of agriculture were returning from a field trip to see harvesting equipment when a rear tire blew and the van rolled several times, ejecting everyone on board.

The school’s fleet of three dozen 15-passenger vans remains grounded. The top-heavy vehicles are prone to rollovers, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has issued four warnings about such vans since 2001.

In April 2001, six members of the Utah State men’s volleyball club were injured when their Dodge van flipped near Laramie, Wyo.