ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. — Six children were reported to be critically injured while riding in a pickup truck bed after the driver lost control in Escambia County, Florida Highway Patrol reports.
The accident happened around 3:45 p.m. Sunday on O.C. Phillips Road off Highway 97A, about seven miles south of Walnut Hill.
The 37-year-old female driver of a Nissan Frontier pickup truck lost control after leaving the paved area of the road and continued driving on the dirt roadway. The car collided with the barrier on the side of the road, overturning the vehicle and landing on its side, according to the FHP.
Authorities said six children; girls ages 3, 4, 8 and 11, and boys ages 10 and 14; were thrown from the truck after it turned on its side. The children were not secured in the back of the truck. A 47-year-old male was also in the passenger seat.
Everyone in the vehicle was reported to be critically injured.
Several of the occupants were airlifted in three medical helicopters, and the remainder were transported by ambulance to the Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola.
In Florida, it is legal for adults ages 18 and older to ride in the bed of a pickup truck without a seatbelt as long as the passengers are sitting flat on the bed and not elevated by another surface, the Miami Herald reports. Minors ages 17 and younger can as long as the bed has secure seating and seat belts.
The investigation is ongoing, and charges against the driver are pending from the FHP.
