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.
A story that will be told in that family for generations.
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Nope sounds like a Darwin award family.
I know it’s wrong but Im impressed. Definitely an alpha in the making.
Nah, PIF, no way!
When you hit a semi with an econobox, aren’t even hurt and the semi can’t be driven away, you done laid a whack on somebody!
I guess you fail to understand what winning a Darwin Award means at age 9 for her future and any kids she might whelp.
“…the 9-year-old driver and her 4-year-old sister walked away unscathed…”
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No mugshots? ;-)
A 9 year old girl driving a car from Utah to California should put her in the Guinness Book of World Records.
I remember my days on the farm and driving the truck 3 miles to our other farm. I had to stand up in order to see where I was going. Of course, the truck was set in the first gear and I was not allowed to go any faster.
I hope they were in their child safety seats or they’ll be in real trouble.
A nine year old is old enough to know not to do that!
Time for some “commonsense” key safety regulations.
Obviously keychains should be disassembled and stored in separate key safes.
The 9 year old was self identifying as a 19 year old college student headed to Lollapalooza 21.
What kind of a Mormon would do something like that?
(sorry, it sort of wrote itself)
Some yrs ago a 5 yr old boy in Cleveland
took the keys for his grandma’s car early one morning and drove.He collided with a
parked car and airbags deployed at
200 mph, killing him.
Sadly though I bet the trucking company gets hit with a huge claim, some smarmy lawyer will get them to sue the company.
This is just so cute. A 9 year ago old driving to see the ocean and no idea where the hell it is endangering other lives on the road because the parents are too busy to keep an eye on them. You know CPS would be cailed on my ass for attempting to read a bible verse to my kids. Grand Theft Auto with a 9 year old and colliding with a semi? Awwwwwww.
Yeah, but those that cheat Darwin are usually the ones that go on to actually do something with their lives.
In this age of passivity and slavish devotion to rules it's nice to see a kid that takes the initiative on something instead of having their only activity be an organized sport under the watch of twenty coaches.
I predict this one will go places.
It takes no guts to *want* to do that. It takes a chid with no impulse control to actually do it - and endanger her younger sister.
Ban Automaitcs
There are severe penalties for not securing firearms when children are in the house. I guess the same needs to be done for car keys.
Not if one takes proper precaution, like owning at least one stick.
Unless the kids can get my truck out of the driveway, they can’t effectively access the automatic even if they have the keys.
Sticks save lives. Ban automatics—if it saves one life, it’s worth it. Do you know how many tens of thousands of people are killed every year driving automatics?
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