Child crashes SUV into West Jordan home during ‘driving lesson’ with stepfather
Jan 30, 2022, 10:05 PM | Updated: Jun 7, 2022, 3:22 pm
WEST JORDAN, Utah — A wild situation saw a lucky outcome Sunday evening after West Jordan police said a man tried to teach his 11-year-old stepdaughter how to drive, and the SUV sailed straight through a neighbor’s fence and into the house.
Officer Sam Winkler explained that the 11-year-old girl was alone behind the wheel of the Ford Expedition, with her stepfather instructing her from the passenger seat.
They were driving on Tupelo Lane in a neighborhood.
“While at a ‘T’ intersection, the child started rolling forward but was being instructed to stop and panicked and hit the gas pedal instead of the brake, and the steering wheel was turned to the right,” Winkler said.
The Ford Expedition broke through into the home. Winkler said the homeowner was upstairs at the time and came running down.
Others in the neighborhood tell KSL TV they heard the crash but didn’t realize the story behind it.
The house was damaged and spray foam was used to plug up the giant hole. The yard is ruined and the fence is broken out.
Neighbors tell KSL TV the fence is fairly new.
Everyone was OK, Winkler indicated.
He said they were not able to issue any citations because the neighborhood sits in a private, HOA community and the roads are private property. This means traffic code is not enforceable on those roads, Winkler explained.
His message: Don’t teach your children how to drive until they’re the legal age to learn.
