HOPKINS TWP., MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – For the second time in three days, the Allegan County Sheriff’s Department has had to deal with a fatal crash involving minors.
According to Sheriff’s Captain Chris Kuhn, first responders were dispatched to a residence in the 35 hundred block of 20th Street near Dorr around 12:15 PM on a report that “a young female had been ejected from the vehicle during the crash and was severely injured.” Despite efforts to revive the youth, she was declared dead at scene by the Allegan County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Kuhn added that, in investigating the incident, it was determined that the two “minor female occupants” of the vehicle had taken the vehicle of the older female out “to teach the younger female how to drive (as) the younger female (was to start) driver’s education soon. At some point during their trip, the older female let the younger female take over as the driver. The younger female, traveling south on 20th Street, was going too fast for the conditions and lost control of the vehicle.”
The vehicle went off the roadway and rolled over, partially ejecting the older female, who succumbed to the subsequent injuries. The younger female was taken to an undisclosed hospital for treatment of minor injuries. Neither youth was buckled up.
Kuhn said that speed and the gravel road conditions of 20th Street south of 136th Avenue were factors in the crash, and because both of these local youths were under 18, no names would be officially disclosed. The captain also pointed out that “rural gravel roadways are in poor condition due to the hot and dry conditions, and (that) drivers should travel slower than usual on these roadways (we would suggest 35 MPH)” as the incident remains under investigation.
On Wednesday, a “pre-teen” visiting relatives in the Saugatuck area died when the dirt bike that the youth had been on struck a vehicle on 126th Avenue.
