News

Actions

Teens share message about seat belts after terrifying rollover crash

Posted at 9:44 PM, Sep 27, 2015
and last updated 2015-09-27 23:46:38-04

PROVO, Utah -- Four teens are lucky to be alive after their car went off a road in Provo Canyon, rolling several times.

“I look back on it now and it's just like I could have died,” said 17-year-old Dalton Prince.

The car was mangled and crushed, but all four teens survived with moderate injuries.

“Seat belts save lives. We should be dead right now,” said 18-year-old Christian Horito.

Driving home on Squaw Peak Road Wednesday night, navigating the tight turns, police say the car was going too fast when the four teens inside went crashing down the hillside.

“I just remember the first flip, like flipping in the air. It was just like in the movies,” Horito said.

The vehicle rolled four times as the teens' bodies smashed against the side of the car.

“I was just waiting for it to end. Honestly, like, just wanting it to end,” Prince said.

Finally, they came to a stop and Dalton Prince saw his brother and two friends unresponsive and covered in blood.

“I just look up and he was passed out, Just, I thought he was dead, really,” Prince said.

Prince called 9-1-1 while the others were still unconscious.

“The next thing I remember is waking up on the pavement on the side of the road and I look over to my side and I see his little brother, Dalton's little brother, like he looks like he's dead,” Horito said.

The teens survived the crash with broken arms, concussions and deep gashes.

“I'll take it over a paralyzed body or death any day,” Horito said.

The teens say they’re alive thanks to seat belts.

“If no one buckled up, like, even one person, like, they would have been dead for sure," Prince said. "It flipped, like, multiple times. They would have been dead easily."

All four of the teens were sent to the hospital, but when their parents saw the car, they were just happy the boys were alive.

“For them to be all wearing their seat belts is so important. It just helps me to understand that we're not going to funerals today because of it,” said Heather Rivera, Prince’s mother.

Now these teens have a message to share.

“I don't care who you're with, where you are, where you're going, like, just put on your seat belt no matter what,” Horito said.