Published: July 02, 2009 02:34 pm      

Crash injures another teenage driver

LIZTON — Hendricks County Sheriff’s deputies investigated another serious vehicular crash involving a teenage driver.

This one happened about 7:30 a.m. Thursday on State Road 39 north of County Road 625 North. Police say a 2000 Mercury Sable driven by Jared T. May, 17, of Lizton, crossed the center line and struck a southbound dump truck head-on.

May was airlifted to Wishard Hospital with serious arm and leg injuries. Wishard does not release information on patients who are minors. Rudy C. Hoffman, 39, of Indianapolis, the driver of the 2002 Kenworth tri-axle dump truck, was not injured. Police say both drivers were wearing seat belts.

This accident follows several others that have involved teenage drivers in the county recently. The Sheriff’s Department investigated two fatal car crashes last week. One involved a 17-year-old driver on Raceway Road who overcorrected his vehicle and crossed the center line, striking a minivan. The collision killed 16-year-old Kristian A. Ophof of Brownsburg, who was a passenger in the 17-year-old’s Oldsmobile Intrigue.

Allison R. Mahney, a 2009 Tri-West High School graduate, was killed in a head-on collision June 26 on U.S. 136. A woman and two young children in the other vehicle were taken to a hospital.

Indiana State Police have also had their share of fatal accidents. Two people, 21-year-old Luke S. Lovins and 20-year-old Erin C. Ford, were killed in a head-on crash June 20 on Interstate 70.

In the case of the I-70 crash, the Ford pickup driven by Alfredo Luviano Martinez of St. Louis crossed the median and struck Lovins’ Chevrolet Malibu. Police believe Martinez’s front left tire blew out. The cause of the other accidents has been listed as unknown.

Another accident early Thursday morning on Cartersburg Road involved another death when the driver of a moped struck a utility pole. State Police have yet to release any details in that investigation.

Lt. Jim Yetter of the Sheriff’s Department has no explanation for the recent rash of vehicular fatalities in the county.

“We don’t have any proof (the drivers) were doing anything like texting,” he said. “We can’t really speculate on why this is happening.”

All he and other officials can do is advise teenagers to focus on driving, and nothing else while they’re doing so.

“We don’t want them messing with cell phones,” Yetter said. “All their attention needs to be on what’s going on around them and have their eyes on the road. That’s the best advice we can give. I think a lot of these crashes can be avoided.”



wade.coggeshall@flyergroup.com