Speed, inexperience led to fatal Elburn crash

Speed and driver inexperience led to a May 16 fatal crash in Elburn that killed a Batavia High School student and severely injured her passenger, Kane County Sheriff’s police said today.

Lynlee Gilbert, 17, was driving about 68 mph on Green Road south of Hughes Road in Blackberry Township when she failed to negotiate a turn, accident investigators said.

Gilbert’s car left the road while entering the curve and it appears she overcorrected in an effort to regain control, sheriff’s police said. The vehicle left the roadway on the west side of Green and struck a tree.

Gilbert was pronounced dead at Delnor Hospital in Geneva. Her friend, Sarah Ginter, 18, of Batavia, was hospitalized with serious injuries.

Tests for drugs and alcohol were negative for both girls, according to the sheriff’s office. No charges or citations were filed in connection with the crash.

Both teens were seniors at Batavia High School. Gilbert had just gotten off work from her job at a store at the outlet mall in Aurora.