The driver of a pickup truck -- with 5 minors riding in its bed -- that crashed on the Downtown Connector Monday morning has been charged with traffic and child restraint violations.
The 1999 Dodge 1500 struck a guardrail on I-75/85 northbound near the Spring Street exit just before 10:30 a.m.
Eight passengers riding in the bed of the truck, covered by a camper shell, were transported to Grady Memorial Hospital, a Georgia State Patrol spokesperson said. Their ages were 5, 6, 7, 14, 17, 18, 19 and 20.
Gordy Wright, a spokesman for the Georgia State Patrol, said their injuries did not appear to be life threatening.
Five people were inside the cab, including a 1-year-old and a two-year-old. Wright said the children were riding in restraint systems, and nobody in the cab was injured.
The driver, 40-year-old Jack Roger Rozsos, was cited for crossing a gore or median and five counts of child restraint violations. The law prohibits passengers under the age of 18 from riding unrestrained in the bed of a truck.
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The group consisted of two families from Plant City, Fla., Wright said. They were on the way to the Georgia Aquarium when the crash occurred.
The right lane of the northbound Connector was blocked by the crash and emergency vehicles.
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