Juvie driver's name withheld

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
July 6, 2010

The name of another juvenile involved in a traffic crash has been withheld from the public. Why?

Last Friday, July 2, a crash occurred on Route 14, just west of Crystal Lake, when a young driver reportedly crossed the center line and struck a westbound vehicle, which was then struck by a third vehicle. The position and direction of the third vehicle was not disclosed in the newspaper article.

If a driver is old enough to have a driver's license, he is old enough to have his name in the paper if he is involved in a wreck.

The speed limit there is 35MPH, if the crash happened in front of the Breaker's Restaurant (east of South Ridgefield Road). What was the driver doing, that he was so inattentive to his driving that he crossed the center line? How was he distracted? On a cell phone? Texting?

If the juvenile driver was west of South Ridgefield Road, the speed limit is 40MPH. The crash closed U.S. 14 for about an hour and was investigated by the McHenry County Sheriff's Department. The juvenile driver was ticketed for improper lane use and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.