Car crashes through Florida toll booth, drives into ocean

A car carrying a family smashed through an unoccupied toll booth in Florida on Sunday and ended up in the Atlantic Ocean after the driver apparently suffered a seizure, witnesses said.

The white sedan destroyed a toll booth, kept speeding and crashed into the ocean just before 5 p.m. on Daytona Beach, which was crowded with families, Volusia County Beach Safety officials told news outlets.

“(The car) was going like 40 miles per hour, and it obliterated the toll booth and came barreling all the way through,” beachgoer Nicole Mathis told ClickOrlando.com. “People were dodging left and right to get out of the way.”

Five people were injured, including a 3-year-old boy in the water who was struck by the vehicle. He was taken to a local hospital and then airlifted to Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando, where officials said he was listed in stable condition.

Witnesses said the driver suffered a medical emergency and lost consciousness while driving his wife and two stepdaughters.

Good Samaritans rushed into the water and worked together to push the car out of the surf to get its terrified occupants to safety.

Mathis said she and the others were able to remove two girls sitting in the back and their mother sitting in the front passenger seat.

The driver was initially unconscious, but he eventually came to and was administered first aid by lifeguards.

Mathis said that she learned from the girls that just prior to the crash, their stepdad told them he was going to have a seizure.

The driver of the wrecked vehicle was hospitalized, but there was no immediate word on his condition. He has not been named.