Two teenagers were seriously injured in a 5 a.m. accident on West Bergen Road, Bergen, after the 17-year-old driver reportedly fell asleep, according to a Sheriff's Office accident report.
Sierra Raye Kast, of Albion, was driving a 2008 Ford sedan southbound on West Bergen Road when the car veered off the south shoulder and ran over the top of a cement culvert before heading further into the embankment. Kast was apparently able to steer the car back onto the pavement but overcorrected, according to Sgt. Jason Saile, of the Crash Management Team, causing the car to exit the roadway on the south shoulder again, where it overturned, struck a tree that spun it around, before it struck another tree and came to rest on its roof.
Driver-side back seat passenger Arianna N. McGurn, 17, was ejected from the vehicle and was trapped in the drainage ditch under the trunk portion of the car.
Bergen volunteer firefighters used airbags to life the car off of McGurn so she could be extricated. She was flown to Strong Memorial Hospital by Mercy Flight with a leg injury. Her injuries were not considered life-threatening.
Kast was also injured in the crash and transported to Strong by Mercy EMS.
The other two passengers were Cory Wallace, 15, and Alonso Storey, 17.
Only Kast, the driver, was wearing a seatbelt, Saile said.
No citations have been issued.
Asked if there is anything teenagers in the community can learn this accident, Saile said: “As a young driver, how much experience do you have as a 17-year-old driving at five o’clock in the morning? Unless you’re going to work or have a good reason, there really isn’t a reason to be out and about. Five o’clock in the morning as a 17-year-old, if you’re not going to work or doing something important, you should be home in bed.”
