7-year-old dies after being hit by 3-year-old brother driving golf cart in Florida

A 3-year-old child driving a golf cart fatally struck a 7-year-old in Southwest Florida on Monday, authorities said.

The younger child was driving on private property on Orange River Boulevard in Fort Myers. The crash happened when the 3-year-old approached a curve near the property where the 7-year-old was standing on the front lawn.

Lt. Greg Bueno with the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) told local television station WFTX-TV the two boys were brothers.

Troopers arrived on the scene just after 4 p.m. The older child suffered critical injuries and was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The 3-year-old boy wasn’t hurt, authorities said.

FHP officers told Ft. Myers-based television station WINK that they’re trying to figure out what led up to the tragedy and how the young child was able to power the golf cart. They are also looking into whether the older boy was in the cart at some point.

Under a new state law that took effect on July 1, Florida minors are not allowed to drive golf carts without a permit or a driver’s license.

An investigation is underway “because a little boy lost his life,” Bueno said.

According to the local daily newspaper The News-Press, the tragic incident was the second fatal crash involving a golf cart in South Florida in about three months.

In Naples, the 56-year-old driver of an SUV rear-ended a golf cart late at night on April 8. A 29-year-old woman, one of seven passengers in the cart, died at the scene.