A 17-year-old driver was issued multiple citations after a sport utility vehicle loaded with 10 people crashed Friday night, sending all nine passengers to the hospital.
Four of the passengers - a baby and three older children - were ejected and seriously injured. They, along with 24-year-old Elizabeth Martinez and three other children, were taken to Tampa General Hospital with a variety of injuries.
The driver, whom Bay News 9 is not identifying because of his age, was driving a 2003 Lincoln sport utility vehicle south on U.S. 41, in the left turn lane for Symmes Road, around 7 p.m.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the SUV turned into the path of a U-Haul truck driven by James Bunn, 57, of Tampa. The truck slammed into the right side of the SUV.
The only occupants of the SUV wearing seatbelts were the two adults and a 14-year-old boy. Those seriously injured ranged in age from 1 to 15. Neither driver was injured.
The teen driver was cited for no valid driver's license, no insurance, failure to yield, child restraint violations and seatbelt violations, the FHP said.