Tulsa Teens Went Full Send Off An Interstate Bridge and Landed Alive but a 1-Year-Old Was in the Car

A 17-year-old blew through a stop sign in Tulsa at 5 am and launched a car off a bridge onto the interstate below.

That car had a 1-year-old inside – not in a car seat.

What that baby survived is something you need to hear about.

Car Went Airborne Over a Drainage Ditch and Dropped Onto I-244

Tulsa Police responded near Southwest Boulevard just after 5 a.m. on Saturday, April 11.

The 17-year-old failed to stop at a stop sign and couldn't hold the slight curve in the road.

The car struck a curb, went airborne over a drainage ditch, crashed through a barrier fence, and dropped off the overpass onto the eastbound lanes of Interstate 244 – landing upside down.

Three people were in that car: the 17-year-old driver, an 18-year-old passenger, and a 1-year-old child.

Before first responders reached the wreck, emergency dispatchers could already hear the child screaming.

The baby – not secured in a car seat – was injured and rushed to the hospital.

Authorities say the child is expected to recover.

The teen driver faces possible charges as the crash remains under investigation.

Someone Put That Baby in the Car

Here's what the police report doesn't say but everyone already knows.

That 1-year-old didn't get into that car alone.

Someone put a baby in a vehicle at 5 in the morning, didn't strap them into a car seat, and handed the keys to a 17-year-old.

Every one of those was a choice.

Oklahoma law requires every child under eight to be properly secured – for a 1-year-old, that means a rear-facing car seat with a five-point harness.

That law wasn't followed.

The driver also had an 18-year-old passenger in the car alongside the toddler, which may implicate Oklahoma's Graduated Driver License passenger restrictions depending on the relationship between the occupants – something investigators will need to sort out.

Charges are possible, police say.

They should be more than possible – and they shouldn't stop with the driver.

This Baby Shouldn't Have Been in That Car

Teen drivers aged 16 to 17 are three times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than drivers over 20, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The majority of teen passenger deaths – 59% – happen when another teenager is behind the wheel.

Every parent in America knows teenagers are dangerous drivers.

That's precisely why someone decided to put a 1-year-old in a car with one before sunrise, without a car seat, and apparently thought nothing of it.

The car seat might not have changed the outcome in a crash that violent – but the adult who put that child in that car without one didn't know that when they made the decision.

They just didn't bother.

Personal responsibility used to mean something in this country.

It meant that when you hand a teenager your keys at 5 a.m. with a toddler in the back seat, you own what happens next.

Tulsa police should make sure someone does.

Sources:

• Stephen Sorace, "1-year-old injured after teen driver crashes car off Oklahoma bridge," Fox News, April 13, 2026.
• Oklahoma State Department of Health, "Child Passenger Safety Law," Oklahoma.gov.
• Oklahoma Statutes §47-11-1112, Child passenger restraint system requirements, Justia, 2025.
• Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, "Teenagers," IIHS.org, 2023 data.
• "Oklahoma Teen Driving Laws: A 2025 Guide for Parents and New Drivers," FlashPath, 2025.