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.
I predict this one will go places.
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I agree - most like while taking a selfie on a cliff edge ...
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