Crash investigators with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office are investigating a serious crash near Gurnee that left two people hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said Gurnee Police Officers were dispatched to a vehicle versus traffic pole traffic crash with injuries on Stearns School Road near Fuller Road at 2:15 p.m. Saturday afternoon.
After conducting a preliminary investigation at the scene, Covelli said Gurnee officers determined a separate crash involving the same vehicle initially occurred at Route 41 and Stearns School Road.
The first crash was located in the sheriff’s office jurisdiction prompting Lake County Sheriff’s Deputies to respond to the scene.
Covelli said the preliminary investigation shows an 88-year-old Gurnee woman was driving a Toyota Rav4 southbound on Route 41 and attempted to make a right turn onto westbound Stearns School Road when a Kia Forte, driven by a 20-year-old woman of Richmond, was attempting to make a left turn onto westbound Stearns School Road from northbound on Route 41.
Witnesses reported the traffic light turned from green, to yellow, to red, when both drivers made their respective turns, turning into one another, causing relatively minor damage.
However, according to a passenger in the Rav4, the 88-year-old driver of the Rav4 pressed the accelerator instead of the brake causing the Rav4 to accelerate to a high speed and struck a utility pole near the intersection of Sterns School and Fuller roads, Covelli said.
Both the driver and passenger in the Rav4 were transported to an area hospital with critical, life-threatening injuries.
The 20-year-old driver of the Forte was uninjured, Covelli said.
The crash remains under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Team.