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WEST JORDAN — Two teenagers could face criminal charges of reckless driving in connection with an accident that left one of them in critical condition.
“The determining factor here, in determining how long charges could be coming, would be if the injured party stays in the hospital, and whether his condition improves or deteriorates,” officer Craig Carroll said.
The 16-year-old fell from a moving vehicle in a neighborhood near 9000 South and 4700 West Wednesday afternoon. The boy climbed out of the cab and into the bed of the truck, and was thrown out when the driver overcorrected.
“The determining factor here, in determining how long charges could be coming, would be if the injured party stays in the hospital, and whether his condition improves or deteriorates,” -Officer Craig Carroll
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Carroll says the 18-year-old driver should have stopped the truck once he realized what was happening. Instead, he panicked and overcorrected when he turned his attention back to the road. The driver was not hurt.
“Sometimes, especially younger people think they are invincible," Carroll said. "They don’t realize or think far enough ahead as to what some of the consequences of their actions might be.”
Carroll says the accident was totally preventable if the pair would have just pulled over.
“The back of a pickup truck is not a place designed to carry passengers," he said. "So had he been properly seat-belted in the passenger compartment of the vehicle, the accident never would have occurred.”
Carroll would not release any names or further information about the teens, where they were heading or what they were trying to retrieve from the cab. He adds that police are simply focusing on the crash itself.
