Lawrence Douglas County Fire and Medical personnel get ready to transport a young accident victim to a waiting helicopter ambulance after a pick-up truck he was in hit a tree in the 1000 block of Lawrence Ave.

Amanda Byrley heard the crash Wednesday afternoon from inside her house on Lawrence Avenue. When she looked outside, a truck was wedged up against a tree, just narrowly missing her parked car.

“They hit really hard,” she said, while surveying the damage. “Those poor kids.”

Lawrence police said four children between the ages of 10 and 15 were involved in the crash, just north of the intersection of Lawrence Avenue and Harvard Road shortly after 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Sgt. Rick Nickell said all four children were injured. A 15-year-old female passenger from Lawrence was flown by air ambulance to a Kansas City hospital, a 10-year-old Topeka boy was taken by ambulance to Lawrence Memorial Hospital and the 14-year-old driver as well as an 11-year-old boy, also both Lawrence residents, went by private vehicle to the hospital.

Nickell said the girl’s injuries are believed to be nonlife-threatening.

Witnesses described seeing the truck quickly accelerating after stopping at the three-way stop. Lawrence resident Mark Metzger was driving home from work when he saw the truck fishtailing toward him, heading north on Lawrence Avenue. He stopped his car and called 911.

“He turned north and just lost control,” Metzger said. “It’s hard to tell if he was showboating or if his foot just slipped.”

Nickell said the driver told investigators his foot slipped off the brake and onto the accelerator as he was turning the corner causing him to drive into oncoming traffic on Lawrence Avenue. Nickell said the boy then overcorrected, causing the truck to careen off the road.

Residents in the area said it’s just another string in a series of serious accidents near the three-way stop.

“When vehicles are going up into yards, I think it indicates that something’s wrong,” said Karen Oliver, who has lived in the neighborhood for 23 years. “It might not look like there’s a serious problem, but there is.”

Neighbors have already petitioned the city to reduce the speed limit in the area to 25 mph and speed bumps were recently installed, but residents said this latest accident proves it’s not enough.

“My suggestion is that at all three of these stop signs, they need to have rumble strips,” Oliver said. “They need to do something to interrupt the flow. It might not look like it’s a dangerous spot, but apparently it is.”

Police have not issued any citations but are looking into whether the driver may have been violating conditions of a learner’s permit.