ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The driver of a trolley that overturned in St. Augustine last month, injuring 12 people, gunned the engine as he took a turn, telling riders, “Hold onto your hats and kids!,” according to an incident report News4Jax obtained Thursday.
Several riders told police that the driver, who was later cited for reckless driving causing great bodily injury in the crash, was talking about his favorite fair ride being “the Whip” before he took a sharp left turn into the parking lot of the Oldest House Museum.
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Everyone in the third car shifted to the right, and it toppled over, landing on several riders who had been tossed from the car. The riders in the first two cars said the driver continued moving forward, dragging the toppled third car on top of the trapped passengers.
Riders in the second car were called heroes for their immediate effort to get the third car back on its wheels and off the trapped and injured people.
At least one person was flown to Orange Park Medical Center after the crash at Charlotte and St. Francis streets.
The general manager for the trolley company, Old Town Trolley Tours, said they are grateful none of the reported injuries were life-threatening.
“Our prayers are certainly with our guest’s families,” GM Dave Chatterton said in an interview by phone last month after the crash. “We’ve been operating for 30 years here in this city and have one of the safest reputations in the country. This is what we do.”
Chatterton said there will be an internal investigation into what caused the crash.
“We’re going to figure out what happened so this never happens again,” he said.