A driver was critically injured and two others were seriously injured after a wrong-way driver on Route 12 in Volo crashed head-on into another vehicle Sunday evening.
The Wauconda Fire District and Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded around 8:15 p.m. Sunday to Route 12 and Russell Drive in Volo for a report of a vehicle crash with injuries.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived to find a head-on crash involving two vehicles with heavy damage near Lurvey Landscape Supply.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said a preliminary investigation showed a Ford Mustang was traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of Route 12.
The Ford, driven by a 24-year-old Fox Lake man, struck a southbound Mitsubishi Outlander head-on.
The driver of the Mitsubishi, a 36-year-old Deerfield woman, suffered critical injuries consisting of a fractured spine and brain bleeding, Covelli said.
The driver of the Ford suffered serious injuries.
A front-seat passenger in the Ford, a 23-year-old man who was not wearing his seat belt, suffered significant injuries, Covelli said. He was unable to feel his legs.
Firefighters had to extricate the three victims involved from their vehicles.
The two drivers and the passenger were transported to area hospitals by ambulance.
Covelli said an open container of alcohol was located in the Ford and impairment appears to be a factor in the crash.
The crash remains under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Team.