Salt Lake City, Utah – A video showing a young boy driving a semi-truck was posted to Facebook recently and is now sparking outrage on social media.
KUTV reports the video was posted by a man whose Facebook profile says he works for a trucking company called Ship Ex out of Salt Lake City.
The video shows the boy, who appears to be no older than 12, behind the wheel of the semi-truck while the person recording films from the passenger seat. The clip shows several cars passing on the opposite side of the highway and at least one vehicle passing the semi in the left lane.
“I was honestly extremely shocked, seeing a child behind the wheel of a semi,” said Lt. Jeff Nigbur with Utah Highway Patrol. “I’ve been working 15 years along the Wasatch Front and I’ve never ever seen anything like that.”
KUTV called Ship Ex, but received only produced a “no comment” response. Shortly after the call, the video was removed from Facebook.
“It’s a semi, we have no idea what’s in that vehicle,” said Nigbur. “The child does obviously not have a license or a CDL and is not experienced. He could’ve killed somebody.”
Near the end of the clip, the boy is heard asking for the man to “take the wheel” and admits he is scared.
“I kind of understand where he’s coming from as a father, having some good father-son bonding time, but honestly, that’s just not the way to do it,” said Nigbur.
Highway patrol admits criminal charges are possible after viewing the video clip, but they have to determine if the boy was driving in Utah.
