SANDY -- A 190-foot skid mark in the northbound lanes of 1300 East tells the story about as well as any person could.
The pickup truck carrying four Alta High teens that was headed for lunch Thursday was going fast. At about 10750 South, the truck made a quick, short jog right and then a quick left, skidding across the inside lane and through the brush-filled median. Airborne, the truck flipped, colliding top-first with a small white pickup truck and then into the side of a blue sedan before smashing fender-first through a concrete cinder block wall, Sandy Police Sgt. Kevin Thacker said."You can tell a lot from skids, there are basic laws of physics," Thacker said. "There are certain parts of the puzzle that we can figure out, but we still don't really know what led up to those skids and caused the accident."
The 12:30 p.m. crash killed 16-year-old Josh Carlson, of Draper, and 17-year-old Crystal Cazier of Sandy, both passengers in the truck.
Driver Ben Decker, 17, Sandy was taken to LDS Hospital by medical helicopter with multiple injuries. He was listed in fair condition Friday. Jenny Neilsen, 17, also of Sandy, was Decker's other passenger. She was treated for minor injuries at Alta View and released.
The four kids were riding side-by-side on the bench seat in the cab of the older white truck. Investigators don't know if any of the four were using the truck's three seat belts.
"We don't know if there was another car involved. We're looking at speed issues, which definitely contributed, and we're looking at the number of people in the vehicle and the driver's ability to maintain control," Thacker said. "We talked to a lot of different people, and there were a lot of different stories."
Linda Ream was driving behind the two southbound cars that were hit by Decker's pickup. She said the truck did two full rotations as it flew through the air, sailing over the top of a third car before striking the other vehicles and the wall.
"I thought, 'I'm in a Hollywood movie.' It was so bizarre," she said. "And then I thought, 'They're dead.' "
Teachers at Excel Academy, a nearby day-care center, heard screams and the crash from inside their building, which is about 100 feet away from the crash site. Several employees ran out to see if they could help.
"The one girl was screaming," Jenn Scharman said. "She kept crying, 'Get me out.' I was trying to grab her hand and get to her, but I couldn't. It was horrible."
Debra Gamero also heard the crash from her kitchen, where she was cooking dinner, and thought someone had crashed through her back fence. She dialed 911 and went outside to see the nose of the truck in her neighbor's yard.
"I heard two cars screeching and then the crash," said Gamero, whose fence lines the southbound lanes of 1300 East. "We've often thought one day someone would crash into these walls."
Gamero and other neighbors say that 1300 East between 10600 South and 11000 South is a troublesome speed zone, especially for young drivers. The posted speed is 45 mph but the straightaway nature of the four lane road, which is separated by a wide median seems like a natural spot for speeding.
Police disagree.
"We do speed enforcement, but we haven't had (1300 East) as a recognized problem area," Thacker said. "There is a lot of traffic there, and that tends to hold speeds down."
Thursday's accident is a tragic reminder about the dangers of driving, especially for younger, less experienced drivers, Thacker said. Statistics from the University of Utah's Intermountain Injury Control Research Center show that drivers age 17 and younger are more likely to have accidents when driving with friends. They are also five times more likely to have a fatal crash.
Counselors were being brought to Alta High on Friday to help students and staff cope with the accident.
Scott Racine, 31 of Draper, and Lamar Rasmussen, 31, West Jordan, the driver and and passenger in the small pickup hit by the truck were treated for minor injuries at Alta View and released, Thacker said. Lisa Orwin, 32, of Draper, the driver of the sedan, was treated at the scene. Orwin reportedly had just dropped off her infant child at Excel Academy.
Deseret News staff writer Amy Joi Bryson contributed to this report.