Despite the numerous road safety awareness campaigns that the police undertake to inform motorists and road users about how they can keep themselves and others safe, the basics often get ignored, leading to incidents that can sometimes have no room for error.
There are numerous awareness campaigns that get carried out, ranging from distracted driving to wearing seatbelts for added safety.
However, an incident from Gwinnett County, Georgia, shows how a crash ejected a seven-year-old child from a Ford F-150 pickup truck onto the hood of a police car, because the basics were ignored.
The incident was caught on police camera, which shows the brutal collision between two trucks at a busy intersection, while the patrol cruiser was right there, waiting to make a turn.
Miracle Saves Boy’s Life
Inside Edition shared the video of the crash on YouTube, which shows the police car waiting to make a turn at an intersection when a Chevrolet pickup truck makes a left turn.
It was at that moment that a Ford F-150 pickup truck crashed hard into the Chevy, forcing it to face an entirely different direction. The Ford then crashed into the police car, and it was at that moment that the seven-year-old boy was ejected.
He fell hard on the police car’s hood due to the force of the impact. The boy was lucky he was not ejected a few seconds earlier, he could have been crushed between the two vehicles.
Based on the footage alone, one would assume the boy had suffered life-threatening injuries. Fortunately, he escaped with only cuts and bruises.
After the crash, Police Officer Arianna James, who was in the police car that got hit, rushed to the boy’s aid as he was left shaken by the accident and cried for help.
She then picked him up and made him sit safely in the driver’s seat of the police car before shifting focus to the scene of the crash.
Corporal Angela Carter revealed that things could have gotten worse if the boy had sustained serious injuries. Describing it as a miracle, she said:
“The situation was horrific, and it’s nothing but a miracle that this child walked away with just, you know, a few cuts and bruises. This could have ended very horrifically.”
Footage Exposes Serious Safety Lapse
Police confirmed that the boy was not wearing a safety belt, a major safety lapse that could have had serious repercussions.
In all likelihood, the boy would not have been ejected had he been wearing a seat belt. If he were too young for that, a booster seat would have done the job, but the requirement is to always keep it buckled in place.
It remains to be seen if the driver or the boy’s parents are penalized for the lapse that led to the boy’s ejection.
Notably, information about the condition of both pickup truck drivers has not been revealed, nor has it been disclosed whether any charges were filed against them. Also, it is not known if the police officers in the car sustained any injuries.
The incident is definitely a reminder to always buckle up, considering how things could change in just a few seconds.