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9-year-old Utah girl drives with 4-year-old sister with plans to see ocean, crashes into semitruck
KSBW ^ | Jun 2, 2021 | Jacob Klopfenstein and Linda Williams

Posted on 06/05/2021 3:07:05 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Two young sisters in Utah who apparently wanted to go to California to swim in the ocean took their parents' car on a freeway joyride Wednesday, crossed into oncoming traffic and then crashed head-on into a semi truck.

Advertisement But the 9-year-old driver and her 4-year-old sister walked away unscathed, police said.

The girls left from their home and apparently intended to head to the beach, according to West Valley police spokeswoman Roxeanne Vainuku.

"I guess they were intending to start their summer vacation a little early," Vainuku told KSL-TV.

From the home, the 9-year-old who was driving the car got onto Bangerter Highway and headed north, Vainuku said. They exited off of Bangerter on to state Route 201 eastbound.

At that point, the car the girls were in bumped into a pickup truck, Vainuku said. The pickup driver began following the girls, thinking the driver of the car must have been impaired, but didn't realize that a child was at the wheel.

"He discovered the driver of the other vehicle was not impaired but was in fact a 9-year-old female driving with her 4-year-old sister," said West Valley Police Lt. Bill Merritt.

The girls exited off of S.R. 201 at about 3200 West, Vainuku said. After exiting, the car went over a median and crossed into oncoming traffic. The car then crashed head-on into the semitruck, she said.

The semitruck driver later told investigators he thought the girls' car were going fast and may have not braked, Vainuku said. The car's air bag went off for the 9-year-old driver, but not for the 4-year-old passenger, she said. Both girls were wearing seat belts and were not injured.

"Both of them came out of this accident absolutely fine, which is very fortunate as you can imagine," Vainuku said.

Both the semi and the girls' car were disabled after the crash, Merritt said. The semi truck driver wasn't injured.

The girls' parents had no idea why the girls left and didn't find out about the situation until later in the morning when they received a "shocking" call, Vainuku said.

Police wondered if the parents had had a previous conversation with the girls about an upcoming trip to California, and the girls got antsy and wanted to leave for the trip earlier. But there was no indication that was the case; the girls simply got dressed, grabbed the car keys by the door of the house and set off on their own adventure, Vainuku said.

She added that several fortunate circumstances fell in line to make sure the girls were safe and nobody was injured in the crash.

"It's obviously just very, very lucky that that happened," Vainuku said.


TOPICS: Local News; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: copyrightviolation; utah; utards; utuh
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1 posted on 06/05/2021 3:07:05 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

That kid’s got balls.


2 posted on 06/05/2021 3:09:42 PM PDT by BusterDog
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To: nickcarraway

Sleepy46 wants to buy them ice cream and get a sniff.


3 posted on 06/05/2021 3:10:38 PM PDT by Veggie Todd (Religion. It's like a History class. Without the facts. )
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To: nickcarraway

Hey, I’d leave West Valley City as soon as I could too...


4 posted on 06/05/2021 3:11:35 PM PDT by Regulator (It's Fraud, Jim)
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To: nickcarraway

I s’pose a driverless car would have worked wonders here. The girls would be in CA.


5 posted on 06/05/2021 3:12:03 PM PDT by C210N (You can trust government or you can understand history. But you CANNOT do both)
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To: nickcarraway

No injuries, wow.

Well they may not have got to swim in the ocean, but they made some memories that will last a lifetime.


6 posted on 06/05/2021 3:12:44 PM PDT by DannyTN (,)
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To: Veggie Todd

Lol! I’m sure they already got their invite to the WH for a sleepover.


7 posted on 06/05/2021 3:12:49 PM PDT by albie
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To: DannyTN

Kids...They probably will bury it in the archives of their mind...But Mama...she’s not going to forget and is probably wondering what they will do next.


8 posted on 06/05/2021 3:17:18 PM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: nickcarraway

A story that will be told in that family for generations.


9 posted on 06/05/2021 3:22:19 PM PDT by SaxxonWoods (Any comment might be sarcasm, or not. It depends. Often I'm not sure either.)
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To: nickcarraway


10 posted on 06/05/2021 3:27:28 PM PDT by caww ( )
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To: nickcarraway
"Both of them came out of this accident absolutely fine, which is very fortunate as you can imagine," Vainuku said.

It's just short of a miracle.

11 posted on 06/05/2021 3:28:07 PM PDT by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel.d)
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To: nickcarraway

The girls got the idea somewhere. Video game, movie, parents driving, relations driving. Wonder what paths the elder will lead the younger to do in future.


12 posted on 06/05/2021 3:31:01 PM PDT by Getready (Wisdom is more valuable than gold and diamonds, and harder to find.)
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To: caww


13 posted on 06/05/2021 3:31:48 PM PDT by caww ( )
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To: Getready

Saw an episode of Little House On The Prairie where a dying teenager wanted to see the ocean before he died..so he, Laura, and Albert hitched a ride on the train from Minnesota to San Francisco


14 posted on 06/05/2021 3:32:14 PM PDT by Sarah Barracuda
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To: nickcarraway

Thank the Lord they’re alive.

One day our society will be so blessedly safe, thanks to our benevolent friends in Congress and technocratic overlords, that this sort of thing will become impossible.

“A crazy story” will be the day some genetically engineered humanoid almost accidentally unplugs his PfizerGlaxoSmithKlineJohnsonBaxterUSA IntraFreedom pic line and his serotonin reuptake inhibitor levels vary almost slightly according to his GoogLife monitoring and Point of Sale system.


15 posted on 06/05/2021 3:32:30 PM PDT by golux
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To: caww

Thank goodness it wasn’t an SUV.


16 posted on 06/05/2021 3:32:42 PM PDT by Ed Condon (subliminal messages here in invisible ink)
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To: caww

17 posted on 06/05/2021 3:35:43 PM PDT by caww ( )
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To: nickcarraway
Both girls were wearing seat belts and were not injured.

That is good to hear. Takes some guts to want to pick up and drive to the ocean when you are 9 years old. I hope all that gets directed to something good in the future.

18 posted on 06/05/2021 3:42:01 PM PDT by ConservativeInPA (“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.” ― Thomas Jefferson)
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To: Sarah Barracuda

This could have been an episode of Movin On.

Will and Sonny would have gotten them to the ocean.


19 posted on 06/05/2021 3:43:16 PM PDT by wally_bert (I cannot be sure for certain, but in my personal opinion I am certain that I am not sure.)
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To: nickcarraway

20 posted on 06/05/2021 3:53:55 PM PDT by Trillian
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