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WEST JORDAN — A runaway wheel, bounded through the air, crossed into oncoming traffic on I-15 Sunday morning, and slammed into a minivan, crushing it, and Monday the family shared the story of their near-death experience.

"There was no warning," said 16-year-old Andrew Peterson. "No one saw the tire. It just came out of nowhere."

Andrew was in the minivan with his parents and his three sisters when the accident occurred Sunday afternoon. The West Jordan family of six were headed to Roy to watch the LDS General Conference on TV with relatives when a wheel came off of a southbound fifth wheel trailer, bounced over the median and crashed into their minivan.

Andrew was the only family member who wasn't knocked unconscious in the accident.

"It crashed right in the middle of the windshield," Andrew said as he showed photos of the minivan which was crushed from the hood to the back seats.

Andrew said he was amazed at the damage, but his whole family feels lucky and blessed to be alive.

They were driving north on I-15 around 11 a.m., as they approached Bountiful at mile marker 311.

"One minute, I'm looking at my phone, and the next second, we heard a big crash and then glass was everywhere and we hit the median," Andrew said.

Andrew said life went into slow motion during the accident.

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Windshield smashed when wheel came loose, 5 injured Five people were taken to the hospital Sunday after a wheel on a fifth- wheel trailer came loose and destroyed the windshield of a minivan, authorities said.

"I looked around and everyone was passed out," he said.

The car drifted into the median.

"There were sparks flying," Andrew said. "We slowed down. We didn't go back into traffic or anything."

He shook his three sisters back to consciousness pretty quickly and he said his father woke up too.

"I just tried to stay as calm as I could," Andrew said.

However, Andrew said he was worried about his mom, who was unconscious for about three minutes.

"She was the worst case, and initially I thought she was dead," Andrew said.

Five cars quickly pulled over to help. Among them were three nurses who helped the three most badly-injured family members: Andrew's parents, and his 11-year-old sister, Christa.

"So, they went right away and looked at my mom and my dad," he said.

He said that eased his fears, and helped him start to realize that everyone was going to survive.

Considering everything that could happen, we've got high hopes. –Andrew Peterson

Witnesses said when the wheel came off the southbound trailer, it bounced on the southbound side, and bounced again on the top of the median, before hitting the Peterson's van.

"It didn't even bounce on our side of (the median), and hit us dead on," Andrew said. "So, there was no chance to dodge it, or anything."

Utah Highway Patrol officers said the tires were new, or had been recently rotated, and the lug-nuts were probably not tight enough. The Idaho driver was cited for faulty equipment.

Cory and Heather Peterson are scheduled to spend another week in the hospital with neck injuries. Cory had neck surgery Monday evening, and Heather is still waiting to find out if she'll need neck surgery.

Christa will spend one more night at Primary Children's Hospital with her neck injury. Most of the family members were showered with shards of glass from the windshield.

"Considering everything that could happen, we've got high hopes," Andrew said.

UHP said most people check the air in their tires regularly. However, they said it's also critical to take a tire iron every few months, and check if all the lug-nuts are secure to prevent a real disaster on the road. Officers said drivers need to continually inspect their vehicles and look for mechanical issues that could be hazardous while driving the vehicle.

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