A mid-afternoon head-on collision on U.S. Hwy. 40 claimed the life of a Colorado woman on Friday. Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Matt Bunnell reported the accident occurred at mile marker 155 just east of the Jensen Rock Shop around 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 16.

According to reports Karen Smithey, 64-year-old Dinosaur, Colo. resident was driving a 2004 Chevrolet Blazer traveling east on Hwy. 40 when it was struck head-on. Smithey died at the scene and 38-year-old Kimberly Smithey also of Dinosaur, a passenger in the car, received broken bones in the collision and was transported to Ashley Regional Medical Center. Both women were wearing seatbelts.

Trooper Bunnell reports that a 2006 Ford F150, driven by Julie Julander, 39-year-old Jensen resident, swerved into the east bound lane colliding with the Smithey vehicle. Julander, received internal injuries and was transported along with her son, 9-year-old Wyatt, who received an unspecified leg injury to Ashley Regional Medical Center. The driver was wearing a seatbelt, but the younger Julander, troopers say, was not.

Road conditions were clear at the time of the accident, which remains under investigation.

Highway traffic was routed around the accident on roads south of Jensen.

mbernard@vernal.com