#7-year-old boy killed, 5 injured when ATV flips in Florida field

A 7-year-old boy died and five other people were hurt when an all-terrain vehicle flipped in a Florida field on the Fourth of July, authorities said.

The boy was driving a Kawasaki Teryx4 at about 8 p.m. Saturday in Dade City when it overturned in a grassy field. Three men and two other young children were also on the vehicle at the time when it overturned, Florida Highway Patrol officials said.

The boy, who was not immediately identified, later died at a hospital from his injuries. Two other children — a 2-year-old boy a 4-year-old girl – were seriously hurt, while three men had minor injuries, according to a Florida Highway Patrol incident report.

All six victims are from Dade City and it’s unclear if the older passengers were wearing seat belts at the time of the accident. The driver of the ATV, the 7-year-old boy, and the two other children were not buckled up, investigators said.

None of the riders had helmets on the time, authorities said. A state law requires anyone under the age of 16 to wear a helmet and eye protection while operating ATVs, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

An investigation into the incident is likely to take several weeks, Highway Patrol Sgt. Steve Gaskins told the newspaper.

The 1,600-pound ATV has seats for up to four riders and is made of steel frame tubing, according to Kawasaki’s website.

More people are killed on July 4 in off-highway vehicles than on any other day of the year, according to Consumer Federation of America data cited by the Tampa Bay Times. A total of 52 people died on the holiday in such accidents from 2013 through 2019, including 11 people who were 16 or under, data shows.