Toddler Severely Injured During Pinellas County Motorcycle Crash

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on April 10, 2021

A 35-year-old Florida father is facing serious criminal charges of child neglect with great bodily harm and operating a motorcycle without a license after his 17-month-old stepdaughter was severely injured while riding in his lap during a motorcycle accident early Thursday evening in Pinellas County.

According to preliminary crash reports from the Clearwater Police Department, it was approximately 5 p.m. on April 8^th, 2021, when 35-year-old Dontrell Stanley was driving a 2017 Diax motorcycle near the area of Engman Street and Roosevelt Avenue. As he approached the typically busy intersection with the 17-month-old sitting upon his lap, he made the dangerous decision to run the stop sign. This risky driving behavior put his motorcycle on a collision course with another car in the area, and as he attempted to avoid an accident with this other vehicle, he laid down the motorcycle which ejected the toddler from his grasp and onto the roadway.

Local Clearwater law enforcement and emergency response teams arrived at the scene within minutes of being dispatched to the crash site and proceeded to immediately transport the seriously injured 17-month-old toddler to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg where she remains in stable, but critical condition. Mr. Stanley was taken to Morton Plant Hospital where he was treated for minor injuries and released into the custody of the Clearwater Police Department. He was arrested on alleged charges of child neglect with great bodily harm and operating a motorcycle without a license, and is currently being held at the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $10,250 bail.

“No operator shall carry any person, nor shall any person ride, in a position that will interfere with the operation or control of the motorcycle or moped or the view of the operator,” according to Florida Statute 316.208 regarding passengers riding on motorcycles or mopeds. At the time of this writing, there are currently no laws or age restrictions for passengers of motorcycles in Florida, even though statistics from the NHTSA have shown that over 150 children under the age of ten have been killed in motorcycle accidents between 2011-2018.

Since 1977, Orlando personal injury attorney James O. Cunningham has been compassionately fighting for the rights of motorcycle accident victims. If you would like to schedule a free 30-minute case evaluation, please contact us today at 877-FL-INJURY.

Sources:

• Man on motorcycle had baby in his lap during Clearwater crash, police say

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.