Teens hospitalized after ‘jokingly’ swerving into each other on Southern Illinois highway

Two 17-year-old boys were taken to hospitals Friday after “jokingly” swerving into one another on a highway south of Sumner in Lawrence County.

Each boy was driving a pickup truck, one northbound and one southbound on Christy Avenue, about half a mile south of Sumner at about 5:45 p.m. Friday, Illinois State Police said. One of the boys told police they were acquaintances and “jokingly swerved at each other.”

One truck was forced off the road when they hit, and both trucks caught fire and “quickly became fully engulfed,” police say. Witnesses were able to remove each boy from their trucks; neither truck had any passengers.

One boy, from Sumner, suffered a broken jaw and leg, and a severe concussion. He was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Indiana. The other boy, from Lawrenceville, suffered a broken leg and cuts to both legs. He was taken to a local hospital and was later transferred to the same Indiana hospital as the first boy.

Neither teen was charged.

This story was originally published July 15, 2018 at 7:01 PM.