2 critically hurt in wrong-way Lake Shore crash

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Updated: March 11, 2012 8:45AM

Two people were critically injured early Thursday in a three-car South Loop crash that involved a wrong-way driver and temporarily shut down the southbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive.

Emergency crews responded to the three-car accident at the intersection of Lake Shore Drive and Roosevelt Road about 2 a.m., police said.

A woman driving a red Nissan was traveling north on the southbound lanes when she struck a white Toyota Corolla and a van traveling in the correct direction, police News Affairs Officer Amina Greer said.

The woman and her adult male passenger were transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital as was the adult female driver of the Corolla, Greer said. The driver of the van refused medical treatment.

A fire department spokesman said two people were taken in serious-to-critical condition and one was in fair-to-serious condition, though he did not know who was in which car.

Southbound lanes were temporarily closed as crews cleaned up.

At least four other crashes involving wrong-way drivers have killed or injured Chicago-area motorists in the past month.

The most deadly claimed four lives early Monday near south suburban Hazel Crest when 29-year-old Gustavo Vargas, of Berwyn, allegedly sped the wrong way down Interstate 80 and slammed head-on into a Ford Wagon. State Police suspect alcohol was involved in the crash, which also critically injured a 31-year-old Chicago man.

On Feb. 3, Rakesh J. Baker, 23, of the 6900 block of South Michigan Avenue, was charged with DUI after he drove the wrong way for more than 6 miles on the outbound Stevenson before crashing into another car at Lake Shore Drive, critically injuring himself and a 24-year-old woman.

On Jan. 29, a wrong-way head-on crash in the 3800 block of Alden Road near far northwest suburban Woodstock sent the drivers of two vehicles to Centegra Memorial Hospital for treatment. Joseph F. Nootens, 33, of 603 Waters Edge Dr. in McHenry was charged with DUI and other citations following the crash.

And on Jan. 14, four people were hurt when a wrong-way SUV crashed head-on with a Toyota and a Jeep in north suburban Lincolnshire near Route 21 and Aptakisic Road, police said. One person suffered life-threatening injuries.

No one was hurt, but another wrong-way driver almost clipped an Illinois State Police trooper’s squad car as he made a traffic stop Jan. 16 on the Kennedy Expressway (I-90/94) near North Kostner Avenue. The trooper stopped the driver about 1/8th of a mile down the road and charged the motorist with DUI and several other traffic citations.