A 10-year-old Land O’ Lakes boy died Monday afternoon from injuries he sustained in a go cart crash in Land O’ Lakes, Pasco County.  According to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office investigation, as reported by local media, Austin Carter was injured on Sunday when a go cart he was riding in, which was being pulled by another child on an ATV, lost control.  Austin then crashed into a concrete pole and was knocked unconscious.

Austin was airlifted to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa where he was pronounced dead Monday afternoon. Sheriff’s deputies report that nobody involved was wearing safety equipment. 

The Consumer Product Safety Commission in a report dated January 7, 1998 estimated that there were 125, 900 go cart related injuries in the United States between 1985-1996, with the majority of those resulting from crashes with stationary objects. A posting on the Brain Injury Resource Foundation website indicates that researchers continue to rely on that report, as well as additional data, in their investigation of the number and causes of head-trauma injuries suffered by children.

No parent should experience what the Carter family is going through, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the Carter family, as well as Austin’s extended family and friends.  Our thoughts also go to the boy who was driving the ATV and his family. 

We at The Law Office of James W. Dodson, P.A., are cognizant of the sensitive issues involved and merely comment on tragedies of this type to inform the public and hopefully prevent something like this from happening to another family.