A vehicle crashed through a house at 475 E. University Pkwy. in Provo just north of the Marriott Center Friday morning.
The driver, a 17-year-old student at Timpview High School, was transported to a local hospital. He was coherent and speaking, according to Provo police Lt. Matt Siufanua.
The car crashed through a childrens’ bedroom and then through the master bedroom. The family, with five children, was not at home, having chosen to spend the night at the wife’s parent’s home.
“At about 7:40 this morning, our officers responded to this location, and found that a vehicle driving northbound on 450 East drove through the light, and actually went straight,” Siufanua said. “He was going fast enough that when he hit the curb in front of the house, that he launched himself through the house.”
The vehicle came to rest on top of two beds. “It went all the way through that house, devastating every room. The overpressure in the house knocked the front window out. It was a very devastating and very big impact.”
“Luckily, we found out that last night (the family) decided to stay at their parent’s house,” Siufanua said. “Nobody was in the upstairs apartment of that house, so we were very fortunate.”
In addition to the upstairs family, there was also a tenant who lived in the downstairs apartment. The tenant did not sustain any injuries from the accident according to Lt. Siufanua.
The house was heavily damaged, and not much remained of the bedrooms or any other part of the house impacted by the vehicle. The vehicle also hit a gas line, which was shut off soon after by the fire department. The neighboring homes were evacuated for a short time.
The driver had just dropped off his siblings at their school and was headed toward Timpview High School. According to Siufanua, he was conscious and breathing, and had been speaking to paramedics before being taken to the hospital. The next step for authorities is to determine the medical and mental state of the driver at the time of the accident.
“We will be speaking with the driver of the car,” Siufanua said. “We believe it might be a medical issue. He hit that going very fast at the time, so we need to figure out how that happened.”
