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Eight Critically Injured When Pickup Overturns Near Walnut Hill; Six Children Ejected From Truck Bed
July 7, 2024
Eight people, including six children, were critically injured in a single vehicle pickup truck rollover crash Sunday afternoon near Walnut Hill.
The crash happened just before 3 p.m. on O.C. Phillips Road, off Highway 97A, about seven miles from Walnut Hill.
The driver of a Nissan Frontier pickup truck left the paved portion of O.C. Phillips Road and lost control as they continued westbound on the dirt roadway. The pickup truck collided with the embankment and overturned, coming to rest on its side, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The driver, a 37-year-old female from Walnut Hill, and front passenger, a 47-year-old male from Walnut Hill were both critically injured.
Authorities said six children, ages 3-14, were riding in the bed of the pickup and were ejected when it overturned. All six were critically injured.
The children were girls ages 3, 4, 8, and 11, and boys ages 10 and 14.
Several of the victims were airlifted in three medical helicopters, and the remainder were transported by four responding Escambia County EMS ambulances. All were transported as “trauma alerts” to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola.
The Walnut Hill Station of Escambia County Fire Rescue and the Escambia County Sheriff’s also responded.
Any charges against the driver are pending from FHP as their investigation continues.
NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
34 Responses to “Eight Critically Injured When Pickup Overturns Near Walnut Hill; Six Children Ejected From Truck Bed”
Any updates on the six children
They had to have been playing. I hope and pray the kids recover.
Florida’s seatbelt laws require front-seat passengers and passengers under 18 years old to be restrained by a seatbelt or child safety seat. Passengers can ride without a seatbelt in the bed of a pickup or flatbed truck but only if they are 18 years or older. Minors are allowed to be in the bed of a truck only if properly restrained in an approved and secured restraint or if supervised by an adult in emergency situations. And children under six years old are still subject to Florida’s child restraint laws.
Permitting a passenger to unlawfully ride in the bed of a pickup truck carries a $30 fine for the driver. Allowing a passenger to ride on the hood, on the fender, or in the trunk carries a $60 fine. Exemptions to the normal rules exist for parades and entertainers.
https://www.drivinglaws.org/resources/florida-law-on-passengers-and-pets-in-pickup-trucks.html
if she got in the loose rocks on the road,it could have thrown her in the ditch….Sad…..
I hope the kids recover fullyand quickly, and I hope they charge the snot out of the adults and make an example of what not to do with children
A three and a four year old riding back there?? And the truck going fast enough to end up like that?? Seems perfectly responsible and reasonable to me. Children ending up paralyzed? Just good ol’ country people having fun. The adults have probably learned their lesson and will never do anything stupid again.
You cannot fix stupid but stupid should not involve children.
For those old folks back in your days things were different in the country. It’s a different time now, more civilized more populated that add more dangers!
The driver is beyond irresponsible so does the passenger adult, they should acted like adults from the beginning, buckle all the kids up in their car seats/booster seats. I think both adults need to get press charged by the number of children that was involved in this incident, no mercy! Hope the law enforcement also run alcohol and drug test on the driver too.
The problem with this country is that we have stopped holding people responsible for their actions.
My prayers go out to all those involved. Living in the country, we ride on the back of a truck at times, a tractor or a 4 wheeler. They all require extreme care.
I am praying for all to recover.
I know first hand how easy it is to lose control. I guess they started fish tailing and lost control. I have been on pavement going under speed limit and lost control. I have also let kids ride on back of truck heading to to creek. As it looks like they were doing. Just know you don’t have to speed on these red dirt roads to lose control.
Just Pray for the children and family stop judging God the only one does that and he not hiring as we was younger that’s all we did was ride in back of the truck and wasn’t anything wrong with it then God has plans for everyone you never know so Prayers for them all and wash around your own doors before you judge anyone Elsa
Praying for all involved in this accident. May God be with them and their families.
@Ms T : are you kidding me you don’t really think everybody is judgemental do ya !! Well I got news for you they are and they are right and you are wrong wrong wrong!!! You need to sit down and think about what you are saying it sounds so stupid !!!!
Most of you wanting to not think of the driver and just the kids are shameful. We all as kids road in the back of a truck. There are pictures of me in the back of a truck at a very young age. On the other hand I pray for all involed. I hope that all comes out the why it needs to. Jugding will only get all of you some bad krama.
First prayers for the children, the truck did not get in this position by driving the speed they should have been driving if they made the decision to place the children in the bed. POOR decision making by “adults” who should not be making decisions about other folks children
Judge, judge, judge that’s all most of you people on here know how to do until it is you doing something irresponsible. Then you want someone to show you mercy and understanding. Remember what you dish out coming back to you in some way down the road. I pray that everyone involved pulls through this and that lessons are learned.
Instead of yall praying for all of these people.to recover physically and mentally, yall are too busy worrying about what can happen to them legally. If you weren’t there then you don’t know what happened? Did something run out on front of the truck and maybe she turned the wheel too hard and lost control? Maybe? We don’t know. We can say that it was irresponsible to have the kids on the back BUT if you’re from the country then you’ve been on the back as a kid and your young parent was irresponsible too. Let’s go arrest them for being a young irresponsible adult. That means that they were neglectful also. These adults already have to deal with these babies that are in the hospital so give them some grace. I’m sure that they feel bad enough right now. My prayers go out to all of them and their families.
Surely this is child endangerment at the very least?
As a parent that has lost a child to someone drinking and driving and showing off, it hurts to see this. Losing a child to anything is a pain that will never heal. I hope these poor babies make a full recovery.
My heart is breaking as I look at the pictures of the cooler thrown yards away from the truck. It’s built to withstand years of rough treatment and it’s cracked and broken. I cannot imagine the fragile bodies of those babies in the back, any of them.
Please pray for the adults and the children. Don’t judge, we have all done dumb things at some time in our life.
This hurts my heart! They were obviously in the country so it’s NORMAL for children to ride on the back of the trucks or in the truck beds…. What is not normal is to think it was okay to drive crazy on a dirt road like the rocks weren’t going to make them respect their standing!! My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved…
Rhonda Jones, yes they need prayers and love But they never should have had kids on the back of the truck and driving irresponsiblely. Yes, the driver was irresponsible because there is no way she would have flipped that truck if she had been responsible. No, we don’t put our babies in the back of the truck this day and time regardless of being in the country or nor.
Why couldn’t the adults ride in the bed of the truck instead of the kids? I pray that these children are all going to be ok. But all the adults should be charged with child neglect in my opinion.
This is a sad story that could have happened to many of us. Kids beg to ride in the back and I’ve been both the driver and the kid having a blast with other kids in the bed.
I hope their family can handle all the help these people will need to recover.
Don’t say anything against the adult driving well you are nuts for even asking such a stupid question !!!! Hopefully this person will go to jail and learn not to do stupid stuff to kids in the back of a pickup truck !!! Should be charged with child endangerment!!!!!
@concerned citizen…only adults can ride in the bed of a pickup truck as long as they are sitting flat on the truck bed. Minors require the bed to be outfitted with secured seating and seatbelts, just like inside the truck.
Lock ‘um up!! They knew better. Mickey Powell Flomaton Kim
Prayers for the victims and families. My son has looked it up and it’s not illegal to ride in a truck bed but there are certain parameters you have to follow. I just have one problem with all of this. This was an extended cab truck. By law the little ones should’ve been in a car seat. Why couldn’t the little ones be in the back cab? Idk, yes we did ride in truck beds for fun but that was before we knew any better. I rode in a truck bed but I wouldn’t let my kids do it. At least not until they were teens. I just hope they all come out of this ok.
Prayers for all. People stop judging.please! They all need our prayers and love not criticism. We ride in back of trucks in the coutry for fun, some times. Just love on them
I pray the children will be ok this is so sad. I do beleive it is against the law to ride in bed of truck. Especially kids as tar as the adults go I hope they will be ok an that is all I will day on that.
I pray the children are all safe and make full recoveries. The person driving with that many babies in the back I have nothing nice to say so I’ll keep it to myself
Terribly sad that parents put children at such a risk. So dangerous! Isn’t it against the law to ride in the bed of a truck?