Children Thrown From Bed Of Pickup Highlight Danger

WFTV - Channel 9 in Orlando recently reported about two young children who suffered serious injuries in a two truck accident in Marion County.  Ocala Fire Rescue reported that two boys were riding in the bed of a pickup truck when the truck was hit by another truck.  The unrestrained boys were ejected from the truck and suffered serious injuries.  One of the boys suffered a head injury and was transported 30 miles away to Shands Hospital in Gainesville.

After following up on this story on the Ocala Star Banner website, it appears that the only charges were against one of the trucks for violating the right of way.  There was no mention of any charges for allowing two juveniles to ride in the back of a truck unrestrained.

I did my own legal research and discovered that there appears to be no statute making it illegal for kids to ride in the back of a pickup truck on city streets.  There appears to be one covering interstate or turnpike travel, but not for in-city driving.

From my perspective as a personal injury lawyer, I don't care if there is a statute or no -- I believe it is negligent to let kids ride unrestrained in the back of a pickup truck.  I believe any driver that lets kids ride in the back of his or her truck should bear full responsibility for any injuries that occur to the children if they are ejected.  I don't think this is even a close call.