DETROIT – A 16-year-old driver was charged Monday morning in a three-car crash in which injured several people June 12 in Macomb Township.
Eleven teenagers were injured in the crash which happened just after they all had finished their final exams. It happened in the area of 21 Mile Road and Creekside in Macomb Township at about 10:30 a.m. on June 12. One of the cars carrying five of the teenagers was rear-ended by a pickup truck carrying six of the teens. The first car went flying into another vehicle after the impact.
The driver behind the wheel of one of the cars said he's relieved his friends are OK.
"It was definitely the scariest thing that ever happened to me," Tyler Burton said.
Cellphone video shows the dramatic scene after Burton's car was rear-ended and thrown into another vehicle:
"I'm doing a lot better," Burton said. "I was the least injured and I feel way better after talking to everyone who was injured."
Teen driver faces charges
The 16-year-old driver of one of the vehicles is charged with two felony counts of reckless driving causing serious impairment of a body function.
All of the 11 teenagers survived. Alan Weidner, 16, suffered from a concussion, along with scrapes and bruises.
"I just remember waking up on the ground with a paramedic talking to me and then being put in the back of an ambulance," Weidner said.
Tyler Powers was in the back seat of Burton's car, and he wasn't wearing a seat belt.
"I guess I flew out the back window, and then I woke up, started running around and fell on the grass, and then was taken to the hospital," Powers said.
Powers was seriously injured and very shaken up.
"I thought I was not going to live," Powers said. "I was scared I was going to die."
New outlook on life
All three teenagers said they have a new outlook on life. They're grateful the outcome wasn't much worse, and they want to share the message not to text and drive, to wear a seat belt and never take life for granted.
Police are still investigating the crash. The driver of the pickup truck said he dropped his cellphone, looked down to pick it up and then rear-ended the car, but it's possible that texting and driving was to blame.
The 64-year-old man driving the third vehicle involved in the crash was sent to the hospital, but his injuries are considered non-life-threatening.
"As parents, we must constantly remind our children of the dangers associated with distracted driving, while setting an example for them while we are driving ourselves," Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith said. "Tragically, too many lives are changed forever by distracted driving. In the mere seconds it takes to open or respond to a text, or to make or answer a phone call, you travel hundreds of feet of roadway while driving blindfolded."
The crash shut down 21 Mile Road west of North Avenue and east of Beaufait Farms Boulevard for the crash investigation.
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