According to the Town of Chesterton, Town of Porter Police Department are reporting that a 17-year-old boy driving with a learner’s permit who was, according to witnesses, possibly racing another vehicle at excessive speeds, was seriously injured after losing control of his vehicle on U.S. Highway 12 on Wednesday.
Police say the crash occurred just after 4:30 p.m. where U.S. 12 curves just east of Waverly Road.
While losing control of his Hyundai Tiburon, the driver left the roadway and came to rest against a tree into a wooded area.
The driver needed to be extricated and was then transported by EMS to a parking lot where a helicopter airlifted the patient to the University of Chicago Hospital. The driver’s two passengers were transported to Northwest Health-Porter, one of them with neck pain and a small laceration.
The 17-year old driver was cited for a learner’s permit violation, namely, operating a vehicle with no licensed immediate family member while transporting passengers.
U.S. 12 was closed to traffic while first-responders were treating the vehicle’s occupants and reconstructing the accident.