No serious injuries in chain-reaction Long Grove crash

An SUV went airborne and landed atop another vehicle in a chain-reaction crash Monday in Long Grove, authorities said.

Incredibly, no one was seriously hurt. The drivers of all three vehicles involved in the accident on Aptakisic Road east of Route 83 were wearing seat belts, and all three motorists walked away from their cars, Long Grove Fire Protection District Deputy Chief Ken Buchardt said.

"They were already standing on the side of the road, away from the vehicles," he said.

The seat belts likely prevented severe injuries, Buchardt said, especially for the man driving the SUV.

"He would've been tossed around in the vehicle," Buchardt said. "Usually someone's very seriously injured (in) situations like that."

The crash happened shortly before 8 a.m. in the eastbound lanes of Aptakisic Road. A 2006 Dodge Charger struck the rear of a 2002 Nissan Xterra, which then went into the air and landed atop a 2004 Nissan Maxima, Lake County sheriff's police said. The Xterra came down on its passenger's side, authorities said.

After the collision, the Charger drove into a roadside ditch, authorities said.

The woman driving the Charger was the only person hurt, authorities said. Lise M. Thorsen, 41, of the 7300 block of Princeton Circle in Hanover Park, was taken to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights with minor injuries.

Thorsen was ticketed for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

The driver of the Xterra was identified as Kevin B. Zaininger, 46, of Naperville. The driver of the Maxima was identified as John D. Corley, 51, of Bloomingdale.

Aptakisic Road was shut down between Route 83 and Buffalo Grove Road after the crash for about one hour.