By Kathleen Brady Shea
The Philadelphia Inquirer
WEST CALN TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Quick action by rescuers averted another teen-driving tragedy Friday in Chester County.
A teenage driver with three passengers lost control of a Ford Explorer in West Caln Township, and the SUV rolled, struck a tree, and caught fire at 4:18 p.m., police said yesterday.
Since Nov. 23, six teens in the area have died in crashes involving young drivers.
On Friday, the four occupants of the Explorer, none of them wearing seat belts, were pulled out by West Caln Township Police Officers Tony Howe and Elysia DeCarlo and an unknown witness, West Caln Police Chief Curt A. Martinez said.
“These kids are very, very lucky to be alive,” said Martinez, who arrived as the last passenger was pulled from the burning wreck. “If it wasn’t for the rescuers, we would have had another fatal accident.”
The officers and a man in a maroon truck “risked their lives,” Martinez said. The Good Samaritan left as officers were administering first aid to the young people, none of whom suffered life-threatening injuries, the chief said.
“We’d really like to talk to him and thank him,” he said.
The Explorer was traveling south on North Sandy Hill Road when the driver failed to negotiate a turn near Jelke Road, suggesting “speed was a factor,” Martinez said.
The driver and passengers were not identified because of their ages. Martinez described them as two males and two females; he said one female was 20, and the others were younger than 18.
At least two of the juveniles attend Coatesville High School, which was not in session Friday, he said.
The crash is under investigation; anyone with information is asked to call West Caln police at 610-384-3115.
With recent publicity about other teen crashes, Martinez said he was not sure what it would take to get young people to slow down and use seat belts.
“These kids need to wake up,” he said. “It’s sad because they think they’re invincible and they’re not.”
On Nov. 23, a Honda SUV carrying six students — five from Pottsgrove High School — went out of control and crashed into a car on Route 724 near Sanatoga Road in East Coventry Township. On Friday, the driver, 16-year-old Austin Ewers of Pottsgrove High, was ordered to remain in custody; he is charged with driving under the influence of marijuana and causing the deaths of Andrew Case, 17, of Pottstown, and Michael Cantamaglia, 16, of Barto.
On Dec. 2, a collision at 10:01 a.m. on West Kings Highway killed Victoria Lynne Garvin, 17, and John Joseph Sherman Jr., 18, both of West Caln. Zachary Joseph McGehrin, 18, also of West Caln, was driving them in a Pontiac Sunfire east near Kylies Road when it crossed the center line into the path of a trash truck.
Tragedy struck the Pottstown area again Dec. 12 when an SUV carrying six young people on Route 100 near Moyer Road went off the road, struck a rail, and flipped over. Andrea Antonio-Harris, 16, and Breanna Brothers, 15, ninth graders at Pottstown High, were ejected and killed.
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