Two Utah County residents were in critical condition Tuesday evening following two separate accidents that encompassed nine vehicles, a bike and a bridge. Law enforcement officials attributed both incidents to drivers who weren't paying attention.

The first was at about 8 a.m. Tuesday along northbound Interstate 15 near Spanish Fork, where traffic was backed up because construction had reduced the number of open lanes. Richard Kunzler, 38, of Payson, driving an Oldsmobile sedan, approached the gridlock at about mile marker 255 going about normal freeway speed, said Sgt. Al Christianson with the Utah Highway Patrol.

"He came into the traffic and for whatever reason, when he reacted to slower traffic ahead, he lost control," he said.

Kunzler was traveling in the outside lane when he started to lose control and his car twisted, Christianson said. It clipped the vehicle in front of him then hit the bridge structure on the driver's side of the car, causing the vehicle to rotate so it was facing the median and moving north in the inside lane.

His car then struck a sport utility vehicle, smashing in both doors on his passenger side, continued moving forward, hit the third car and came to a stop.

Kunzler was wearing a seat belt and was not ejected, but he suffered head injuries from getting banged around inside the vehicle, Christianson said. He was taken to Mountain View Hospital in Payson before being flown by medical helicopter to the University of Utah Hospital.

All the vehicles sustained significant damage and had to be towed; cleanup and investigation of the accident scene took about two hours.

One accident in north Provo in a historically dangerous intersection involved five cars and a bike.

Provo Officer Phil Webber said Gene J. Baumgartner Jr., 35, of Provo, was traveling north on University Avenue in a Ford F250 pickup truck hauling about a ton of sand at about 9:30 a.m.

"He is not paying attention to where he is going," Webber said. "He does not notice that the red light is red."

Baumgartner hit his brakes about 10 feet from the intersection, at which time his brakes locked. He entered the intersection and broadsided a van, driven by Sharon L. Christensen, traveling west on 3700 North.

The van spun to the right, hit a car traveling south on University, flipped back into the northbound lanes, hit a car moving north, moved west across the street and hit a parked car before going over the curb. Christensen, 43, of Provo was unconscious by the time her vehicle came to a stop, Webber said. Baumgartner's truck, after striking the van, continued moving north and hit a bicycle, throwing the rider off.

Christensen was taken to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center with several internal injuries, internal bleeding and broken bones; she remained unconscious throughout the transport.

The bicyclist was treated for minor injuries, although his bike was destroyed. Except for the van, which was totaled, the other vehicles had minor damage and no other injuries were reported. Webber said two citations were issued.

No drugs or alcohol were found in Baumgartner's vehicle, and he passed the field sobriety tests, Webber said.

More than a year ago at this intersection, two people were killed in a collision when a speeding motorcyclist struck a Suburban turning east onto 3700 North, killing the 12-year-old boy in the passenger seat and the 29-year-old motorcycle driver.

"People don't pay attention," Webber said. "You can see the lights for blocks in all four directions, so they're just not paying attention."

He recalled a ticket he'd written several weeks ago to a man who, busy on his cell phone having a fight with his wife, sped through an intersection going 70 mph; the man wasn't even aware he'd gone through a red light when Webber stopped him.

"Regardless of what most people think, most people cannot multitask," he said.

People who are driving should be paying attention to their driving and to the road, Christianson said; he advised drivers pay attention to what's happening on the road ahead of them, avoid distractions, and leave themselves an avenue of escape.

"These actions are avoidable if you follow those rules," he said.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.