What was thought to be an impaired driver turned out to be a runaway 9-year-old in a crash between a car and semi truck in Utah early on Wednesday morning.
The accident happened on June 2nd in West Valley near the 201 freeway and 3200 W before 7 a.m.
According to KSL News, a truck driver initially called police to report a car driving erratically, telling police that he believed the driver was impaired. The trucker then followed the erratic car as it sideswiped another vehicle and eventually crashed into the front of the semi truck.
Police confirm a 9 year old girl was driving a car when it crash with a semi-truck on 3200 West at 2100 South.
— Heather Kelly (@KSLHeatherKelly) June 2, 2021
It is blocking a NB & WB lane, northbound lanes seeing most of the delays.
Stay tuned to @kslnewsradio for more details. pic.twitter.com/26Q2hx2jBB
Luckily, no one was hurt in the crash, but the truck driver got quite a surprise when a nine-year-old girl crawled out of the driver’s seat, her four-year-old sister in tow.
Upon further investigation, the girls told police that they had already driven all the way from West Jordan and were trying to get to California.
“Both of the girls were wearing seatbelts. Talking to the officers on scene, they said had the girls not been wearing seatbelts it would have been pretty bad because the vehicles were pretty munched,” Merritt said.
As of 8 a.m. there were still large traffic backups in the area as crews worked to investigate the incident and clear the wreck.
#BREAKING A 9 yr old and their 4 yr old sister were in a car “driving to California” when they hit a semi.
— Morgan Wolfe (@MorganWolfeKSL) June 2, 2021
The kids are okay, but there is a large traffic build up to get onto 201. #KSLTV pic.twitter.com/ruuZmrIAhw