Le Knapp: ATV Accident Lawyer South Jordan Utah

South Jordan is a city in south central Salt Lake County, Utah, 18 miles (29 km) south of Salt Lake City. Part of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, the city lays in the Salt Lake Valley along the banks of the Jordan River between the 9,000-foot (2,700 m) Oquirrh Mountains and the 12,000-foot (3,700 m) Wasatch Mountains. The city has 3.5 miles (5.6 km) of the Jordan River Parkway that contains fishing ponds, trails, parks, and natural habitats. The Salt Lake County fair grounds and equestrian park, 67-acre (27 ha) Oquirrh Lake, and 27 parks are located inside the city. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 50,418. Founded in 1859 by Mormon settlers and historically an agrarian town, South Jordan has become a rapidly growing bedroom community of Salt Lake City. Kennecott Land, a land development company, has recently begun construction on the master-planned Daybreak Community for the entire western half of South Jordan, potentially doubling South Jordan’s population. South Jordan is the first city in the world with two temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jordan River Utah Temple and Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple.

The city has two TRAX light rail stops, as well as one commuter rail stop on the Frontrunners. South Jordan is also a growing tech hub with headquarters of companies like IT software company Ivanti. The first known inhabitants were members of the Desert Archaic Culture who were nomadic hunter-gatherers. From 400 A.D. to around 1350 A.D., the Fremont people settled into villages and farmed corn and squash. Changes in climatic conditions to a cooler, drier period and the movement into the area of ancestors of the Ute, Paiute, and Shoshone, led to the disappearance of the Fremont people. When European settlers arrived, there were no permanent Native American settlements in the Salt Lake Valley, but the area bordered several tribes – the territory of the Northwestern Shoshone to the north, the Timpanogots band of the Ute’s to the south in Utah Valley, and the Goshutes to the west in Tooele Valley. The only recorded trapper to lead a party through the area was Etienne Provost, a French Canadian. In October 1824, Provost’s party was lured into an Indian camp somewhere along the Jordan River north of Utah Lake. The people responsible for the attack were planning revenge against Provost’s party for an earlier unexplained incident involving other trappers. Provost escaped, but his men were caught off-guard and fifteen of them were killed.

In 1863, the South Jordan LDS Branch was organized as a branch of the West Jordan Ward, giving South Jordan its name. The Branch consisted of just nine families. A school was built in 1864 out of adobe and also served as the LDS Meetinghouse for the South Jordan Branch. As South Jordan grew, a new and larger building was constructed in 1873 on the east side of the site of the present-day cemetery. It had an upper and lower entrance with a granite foundation using left-over materials brought from the granite quarry at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon. The upper story was made of oversized adobe bricks. The main hall had curtains which could be pulled to section off the hall for classes. The meetinghouse also served as the “ward” school when it was held during the fall and winter months. It came to be known as the “Mud Temple”, and was in use until 1908. In the late 1890s, alfalfa hay was introduced and took the place of tougher native grasses which had been used up to that point for feed for livestock. In good years, alfalfa could produce three crops that were stored for winter. Sugar beets were introduced to South Jordan around 1910. Farmers liked sugar beets because they could be sold for cash at the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company factory in West Jordan. Sugar beet farming became so integral to the region, that the region’s high school (Jordan High School) mascot was named the “beet digger”. One of the worst school bus accidents in United States history occurred on December 1, 1938.

A bus loaded with 38 students from South Jordan, Riverton, and Bluffdale crossed in front of an oncoming train that was obscured by fog and snow. The bus was broadsided killing the bus driver and 23 students. The concern about bus safety from the South Jordan accident led to changes in state and eventually federal law mandating that buses stop and open the doors before proceeding into a railroad crossing. The same railroad crossing was the site of many other crashes in the following years with the last deadly crash occurring on December 31, 1995, when three teens died while crossing the tracks in their car. As of the 2010 census, there were 50,418 people residing in 14,333 households. The population density was 2,278 people per square mile (880/km²). There were 14,943 housing units at an average density of 675.3 per square mile (260.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.5% White, 0.2% African American, 0.2% Native American, 2.6% Asian, 0.9% Pacific Islander, and 2.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race was 6.0% of the population. The racial makeup of Salt Lake County was 81.2% White, 1.6% African American, 0.9% Native American, 3.1% Asian, 1.4% Pacific Islander, and 1.9% from two or more races. Hispanic of any race was 16.4%. The racial makeup of Utah was 92.9% White, 1.3% African American, 1.4% Native American, 3.3% Asian, 1.5% Pacific Islander, and 3.1% from two or more races.

Hispanic of any race was 17.1%. There were 14,433 households out of which 46.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 76.5% were married couples living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 14.1% were non-families. 11.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.83 compared to 2.94 for Salt Lake County and 3.03 for Utah. There were 22,368 people employed over the age of 16 with 17,258 people working in the private sector, 2,744 in the government sector, 1,186 self-employed and 32 unpaid family workers. The mean travel time to work was 23.8 minutes. There were 4,153 people employed in educational services, health care and social assistance. There were 2,862 people employed in professional, scientific, management, administrative and waste management services.

There were 2,420 people employed in finance, insurance, real estate and rental and leasing. There were 2,316 people employed in retail trade, 1,633 in construction and 2,050 in manufacturing. In 2010, South Jordan had a total of 57 total law enforcement employees for a rate of 1.13 employees per 1,000 residents. City police officers made a total of 910 arrests. Total crimes reported were 3,810. Total crimes contain 22 categories that include everything from murder, rape and assault to drug offenses, larceny and prostitution. The city has 27 municipal parks and playgrounds ranging in size from 0.39-acre (0.16 ha) Bolton Park in the north-west part of the city to the 59-acre (24 ha) Riverfront Park along the Jordan River and the 80-acre (32 ha) City Park along Redwood Road. City Park includes baseball and softball fields, football, soccer, and lacrosse fields, volleyball courts, tennis courts and a skate park. Riverfront Park includes two fishing ponds stocked with rainbow trout and catfish by the Division of Wildlife Resources and 22 acres (8.9 ha) of natural habitat.

Other recreational facilities owned by South Jordan City include the Aquatic and Fitness center, Community Center providing the senior programs, Mulligan’s two miniature golf and two nine-hole executive golf courses. Two trails meander through South Jordan. The Bingham Creek Trail starts in the northwest part of the city and travels 0.5 miles (0.80 km) North-East until it reaches the West Jordan border. A 3.5-mile (5.6 km) section of the Jordan River Parkway trail runs through the city from northern edge of the city all the way to the southern edge. The trail has a combined bike and jogging path, plus an equestrian path. Salt Lake County operates the 120-acre (49 ha) Equestrian Park that sits adjacent to South Jordan City Park. The park grounds contain a horse racing track, a polo and dressage field, indoor arenas and stables.[51] The Salt Lake County Fair is held every August at the park. The 67-acre (27 ha) Oquirrh Lake sits inside 137 acres (55 ha) of park and wetlands located at the Daybreak Community. Recreational opportunities include fishing, sail boating, kayaking and canoeing. The lake has been stocked with trout, bigmouth bass, channel catfish, bluegill, and fathead minnows. Of the fish they catch, anglers can only keep trout. The lake and the surrounding park land are privately owned, but open to the public, with future plans to turn it over to South Jordan City. In addition to the lake, the Daybreak community includes 22 miles (35 km) of trails, community gardens, tennis courts, basketball courts, pocket parks and community-only swimming pools. On August 3, 2017, South Jordan City hosted stage 4 of the Tour of Utah. South Jordan City employees, specifically from the South Jordan Fitness and Aquatics Center, as well as South Jordan citizens, acted as volunteers to help with the race. South Jordan has a council-manager form of government. The council, the city’s legislative body, consists of five members and a mayor, each serving a four-year term. The council sets policy, and the city manager oversees day-to-day operations. The current mayor is Dawn R. Ramsey. The city council meets the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 6:00 PM. South Jordan lies within Jordan School District.

The district has seven elementary schools (Daybreak, Eastlake, Elk Meadows, Golden Fields, Jordan Ridge, Monte Vista, and South Jordan Elementaries), two middle schools (South Jordan Middle and Elk Ridge Middle, along with a new school being built) and three high schools (Bingham High School, Intoners Early College High School and Valley High (an alternative school)) serving the students of South Jordan. In addition, there is Paradigm public charter high school, Early Light Academy public charter elementary and four private schools (American Heritage, Mountain Heritage Academy, Hawthorn Academy and Stillwater Academy). Salt Lake Community College’s Jordan Campus is located on the boundary between of South Jordan and West Jordan. The Jordan Campus offers general education classes as well as all of the college’s health science courses. Jordan School District’s Applied Technology Center and Itineris Early College High School are also located on campus. Salt Lake Community College’s Miller Campus is located in Sandy next to the border with South Jordan and is home to the college’s Culinary Institute, Miller Business Resource Center for corporate training programs, and training facilities for the Utah Department of Public Safety. The private university in South Jordan is the Roseman University of Health Sciences, which houses schools of pharmacy, dentistry, and an online accelerated nursing program. South Jordan is served by the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) bus system and UTA’s TRAX light rail Red Line. The Red Line connects the TRAX line running to downtown Salt Lake City and the University of Utah. Two TRAX stations, with park and ride lots, are located inside the Daybreak Community. The Daybreak North Station is located at approximately 10600 south and has 400 shared park and ride spaces. The Daybreak South Station is located at 11400 south and has 600 park and ride spaces. Two other stations are located inside West Jordan at the city boundary with South Jordan, the 5600 West Station and the 4800 West Station. The travel time between the Daybreak South Station to downtown Salt Lake City is approximately 60 minutes. Electric service to South Jordan residents is provided by Rocky Mountain Power. Natural gas service is provided by Questar Corporation. Qwest Communications handles local telephone service; long-distance service is available from several providers. Comcast and Qwest both offer high-speed Internet connections. South Jordan city owns the water distribution system. Drinking water is provided by Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District. Secondary water, non-potable water used for landscaping, is provided from the canals running through the city. South Valley Sewer District owns and bills for the sewer system. South Jordan City contracts out to Allied Waste Industries for curbside pickup of household garbage; recyclables are picked up once a week. The Intermountain Riverton Hospital, owned by Intermountain Healthcare, is a 58-bed, full-service hospital in Riverton that also includes a satellite facility for Primary Children’s Medical Center. Jordan Valley Medical Center, owned by Iasis Healthcare, is a 183-bed, full-service hospital located in West Jordan.

Despite widespread awareness of the extreme hazards to by all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), ATV accidents continue to claim the lives and futures of Florida especially youngsters. Under Utah law, ATVs are not authorized for use on paved road, but children continue to bring ATVs on to Utah’s roads and highways. Utah laws also prohibit the carrying of passengers on most ATVs, require children below the age of 16 to take approved ATV training courses, and require kids younger than 16 to wear helmets, eye protection, and over-the-ankle boots when operating ATVs. However, these requirements apply only when ATVs are operated on public lands, leaving kids essentially without protection when riding ATVs on private property. Within the past year and a half, several ATV accidents have starkly confirmed that Utah’s motor vehicle safety laws don’t go far enough, and that even where these laws are potentially helpful, they are not inspiring compliance. It turns out that imperfect laws are not the only weak link in protecting kids from ATV tragedies. Ineffective manufacturer warnings now appear to be part of the problem. In a study published late last month by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Academy found that even where ATVs come equipped with labels urging safety precautions and warning against high-risk behaviors and any use of ATVs by children younger than 16, high-risk and underage uses continue unabated. The Academy documented not only that almost 40 percent of ATV-related injuries are suffered by users younger than 16, but also that no respondents, in their study, pursued recommended ATV training, and only 36.7 percent of respondents were helmeted at the time of their crashes. The Academy also found that even after being injured, and despite manufacturer labels warning against underage and risky uses, children who survived ATV injuries went on to ride again, and resumed riding without safety gear, riding on paved roads, performing dangerous maneuvers, and carrying passengers.

Equipment failure, in the form of either malfunctioning ATV parts or defective design of ATV parts, may provide another and different avenue of redress for injured ATV operators. All parties in the chain of manufacture and distribution of an ATV that ultimately causes injury are potentially reachable in cases of this kind. The legal principles that may support a claim based on ATV malfunction include traditional negligence (i.e., a breach of a duty of care owed to the ATV operator), warranty breach (involving both explicit and implicit terms of purchase), failure to warn of known equipment risks, and strict liability (in which the inherent danger of ATVs will obviate the need for a suing party to show carelessness on the part of the ATV manufacturer, distributor, and/or retailer).

South Jordan Utah ATV Accident Lawyer Free Consultation

When you need legal help due to an ATV Accident or injury in a Razor or off road vehicle, please call Ascent Law LLC for your free consultation (801) 676-5506. We want to help you.