Golf cart crash near Antioch sends six people to the hospital

Five teens and one adult were injured, two seriously, in an unincorporated area near Antioch when the custom golf cart they were in flipped over Thursday evening, according to officials.

Lake County sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the area of North Drexel Boulevard and Lotus Avenue around 7:45 p.m. and discovered the crashed custom golf cart, sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Christopher Covelli said Friday.

According to the preliminary investigation, the golf cart, which was intended to seat six people, was being driven north on North Drexel Boulevard by a 17-year-old Lake Barrington boy. There were six passengers, one of whom was riding by standing on the back-bumper area of the cart.

The driver made a sharp turn that caused the cart to roll, sending everyone flying, Covelli said.

All six passengers were hospitalized. The passengers included an 11-year-old boy from Algonquin, a 13-year-old girl from Algonquin, a 13-year-old girl from Huntley, a 15-year-old girl from Huntley, a 16-year-old girl from Algonquin and a 26-year-old man from Algonquin.

Two of the passengers were seriously injured, according to officials.

The driver was examined by paramedics at the scene but was not hospitalized, Covelli said.

"While it can be fun and exciting to ride in golf carts or other nontraditional vehicles, it can also be extremely dangerous," Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg said in a news release. "This incident serves as a stark reminder to parents and others to always be extremely cautious when allowing children to operate nontraditional vehicles."

The crash remains under investigation by the sheriff's office Technical Crash Investigations Unit.