A motorcyclist and its passenger are now stable after suffering serious injuries when a pickup truck pulled out in front of them and struck their motorcycle in Harvard on Sunday, police said.
The Harvard Fire Protection District and Harvard Police Department responded around 4:39 p.m. Sunday to Marengo Road and West Brink Street for a two-vehicle crash with injuries.
Harvard Deputy Police Chief Tyson Bauman said that a 2011 Chevrolet pickup truck and a 2015 Harley Davidson motorcycle were involved in the crash.
The Harley Davidson was traveling eastbound on Brink Street when the Chevrolet, which was facing southbound on Marengo Road stopped at a stop sign, made a left turn in front of the motorcycle, Bauman said.
The 48-year-old Harvard man driving the motorcycle suffered serious injuries. One of Mercyhealth’s emergency field vehicles โ called MD-1 โ was called to the scene to help treat him.
MD-1 vehicles are staffed by residency-trained emergency medicine physicians and they can help paramedics stabilize a patient before they are transported to the hospital from a scene.
The 48-year-old man was flown by a Mercyhealth React helicopter to Javon Bea Hospital-Rockton in Rockford in critical condition, according to the Harvard Fire Protection District.
A 45-year-old Harvard woman, who was a passenger on the motorcycle, was transported to Mercyhealth Hospital in Harvard.
Both the man and woman remained in the hospital, where their conditions had stabilized on Monday, Bauman said.
The driver of the Chevrolet, 86-year-old Ronald G. Schultz, of the 200 block of Ratzlaff Street in Harvard, was not injured.
Schultz was issued a citation for failure to use due care and released with a court date of October 5.
The roadway was closed for just under an hour. The crash remains under investigation by the Harvard Police Department.