Several citations issued in Riverside two-car collision

RIVERSIDE - A Prospect Heights woman received several citations following a two-car crash in Riverside Wednesday near the intersection of First and Forest avenues.

The driver, 18, was ticketed for no valid Illinois driver's license, failure to yield at the intersection and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, Riverside police said.

The crash occurred at about 4:23 p.m. Police found two vehicles with heavy damage spread throughout the intersection. One vehicle landed east of the sidewalk at First and Forest avenues.

An investigation revealed that a 2007 Saturn was traveling south on First Avenue and the driver was prepared to turn east onto Forest Avenue when that vehicle was struck by a car headed north on First Avenue, police said.

The crash pushed the vehicles onto the sidewalk east of First Avenue. Three juvenile pedestrians waiting to cross the street had to jump out of the way and run from the scene to avoid being hit by the vehicles, police said.

Police recovered video from nearby surveillance cameras to help conduct their investigation.

The driver and two passengers in the Saturn sustained serious but non-life threatening injuries and were treated at Loyola Medical Center in Maywood, police said. The driver of the other car, a 27-year-old Norridge woman, was uninjured, police said. She did not receive any citations, police said.

Neither alcohol nor drugs played a role in this crash, police said.

“As is clearly stated in the street camera video, this situation could have been far worse because it had the possibility of being a triple fatality for the pedestrians,” Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said in a statement. “I am so thankful they were able to get out of the way and not be hit or run over by the vehicle. The video has helped us determine fault in the crash and citations have been issued.”