A routine weekend hangout at a Ceres school parking lot turned into a life-or-death emergency last Saturday when a 16-year-old boy went into cardiac arrest after falling from the lowered tailgate of a pickup truck, authorities said. The incident happened in the parking lot of Hidahl Elementary School, and the teen was rushed to a local hospital before being transferred to a pediatric trauma center in Oakland.
Emergency response and patient transfer
Crews with the Modesto Fire Department were dispatched around 2:27 p.m. to the 2300 block of East Redwood Road, where they found the boy suffering from traumatic injuries and in cardiac arrest, according to The Modesto Bee. An American Medical Response ambulance crew provided initial care and took him to Doctors Medical Center in Modesto. From there, he was moved to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland for higher-level treatment.
CHP Modesto spokesman Tom Olsen told the paper that officials did not have an update on the teen’s condition.
What investigators say
According to the California Highway Patrol, the pickup involved was a 1999 GMC driven by another 16-year-old from Ceres, who was not injured and remains under investigation, ABC10 reported. CHP investigators said the driver allegedly accelerated while the victim was sitting on the lowered tailgate, causing him to fall onto the asphalt.
Investigators told reporters that alcohol and drugs do not appear to be factors at this time.
Provisional license rules for teens
As details of the crash were released, CHP officials used the incident to remind families about California’s provisional license restrictions for newly licensed drivers. Per the California Department of Motor Vehicles, drivers under 18 who hold a provisional license are not allowed to transport passengers under 20 during the first 12 months and may not drive between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., except under limited circumstances such as school, work or medical necessity, according to the California DMV.
Why this matters
Teen drivers are disproportionately involved in serious crashes. Per mile driven, teens crash several times more often than older drivers and are more likely to be behind the wheel of older vehicles with fewer safety features, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety notes. Those realities, combined with peer passengers and inexperience, mean that even short, low-speed trips can turn dangerous quickly, according to IIHS…