Driver critically injured in 5-vehicle crash involving school bus
A multi-vehicle crash involving school bus that was loading children in Beach Park left three drivers injured, one critically, Tuesday morning.
Deputies responded to the traffic crash around 8 a.m., according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. There were no injuries on the school bus, which held a driver and two children, or to the children boarding the bus.
A preliminary investigation indicates a GMC Acadia driven by a 74-year-old Zion man struck the stop arm of the school bus as it was stopped in the northbound lanes near Mawman Avenue, authorities said.
The reason for the collision is unknown, though there is a chance the driver of the GMC suffered a medical episode, according to the sheriff’s office.
The GMC continued north after the initial collision, sideswiped a Ford Focus, struck a Chevrolet Colorado and then hit a Ford Flex.
The Zion man was taken to a hospital in critical condition, officials said. The driver of the Ford Focus, a 49-year-old Beach Park man, and the driver of the Chevrolet Colorado, a 39-year-old Winthrop Harbor man, were transported to hospitals with serious, but nonlife-threatening injuries. The driver of the Ford Flex, 28-year-old Fox Lake woman, was not injured.
The crash remains under investigation by the sheriff’s office.