OREM, Utah -- Six Orem High School students breathed a sigh of relief Sunday, the day after the truck they were riding in slipped off the road and into a river in American Fork Canyon.
"Seat belts were probably the thing that saved me," said Doyoung Park, a senior at Orem High School."
Park says he and his five friends had just left dinner at Sundance Mountain Resort and were headed to Homecoming when the Ford F-150 truck they were driving in, slipped from the road.
"You can tell where it went off because of the tire tracks," said Utah State Trooper Janet Miller.
Miller thinks excess speeds may have contributed to the truck slipping off the road.
"We're trying to figure out why he drifted off," Miller said. "Drugs weren't an issue; they weren't reckless; It's just a matter of inexperience."
UHP did confirm that the driver of the truck has been given a traffic citation. However, almost everyone in the truck walked away without major injuries.
"I do a lot of diagramming for fatal crashes," Miller said. "If someone hadn't been wearing a seat belt in that truck.." she trailed off. "We would probably be talking about a fatal crash."
One passenger, a cheerleader, suffered a concussion the night before at a football game and was sent to an area hospital to check for further damage.
"Looking at myself, I realize it happens more than you would think," Park said about car accidents. "You have to be prepared."
