Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By Scott Zahler, Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
Georgia State Troopers said that 15-year-old Jacob Sutton passed away after suffering injuries in a tractor accident. The teen was driving a tractor on Ellenton Omega Road between his family’s business and their farm when a pickup truck collided into the back of the tractor. The driver of the pickup truck was driven by a neighbor, 73-year-old William Lindsey. The Colquitt County teen was airlifted to a hospital in Tallahassee, Florida where he sadly died. According to Troopers, all charges are pending and will be turned over to the District Attorney’s Office.
Some people might be unaware that agriculture is consistently ranked among the four deadliest jobs in the United States, alongside with mining, transportation and construction. According to the National Safety Council’s most recent report, agriculture had the highest average of worker deaths at 29.2 per 100,000 workers compared to all jobs of 3.5 deaths per 100,000 workers. In addition, agricultural workers suffered 90,000 injuries per year.
One of the main differences between agriculture and other industries that make it so dangerous is the presence of children in the worksite. Typically farming is a family business, and children are raised to participate in chores around the farm at an early age. Each year, more than 100 children are killed and 23,000 seriously injured in farm-related activities, according to Childhood Agricultural Safety Network (CASN). For more information on this topic, see 15-year-old teen dies days after tractor accident.