Pedestrian Injured After Minooka Mom Lets Unlicensed Teen Drive

Baby boomers and senior citizens often like to tell stories about how they learned to drive when they were kids. They often regale us with tales of how they drove around on farms or country roads when they were younger than 16 years old. Many times, these trips were taken with their parents' consent.

But what you don't frequently hear are those stories where someone who drove without a license wound up injuring someone else. Well, here is one such story.

A 16-year old boy who did not have a driver's license has been charged with hitting a pedestrian in Minooka this past weekend. According to Minooka Police, the boy was driving a pickup truck on McEvilly Road on Sunday evening around 6:45pm when he struck a girl walking towards him near the intersection of Bell Road. The girl was rushed to a Joliet Hospital after the accident and is now recovering in a hospital in Chicago. Authorities say that the victim is in stable condition, but will take some time to fully recover from her injuries.

In an unusual occurrence, Minooka Police charged the driver's mother as well as the teen. A police spokesman says that the mother actually gave the boy permission to drive the pickup truck. Ironically, the spokesman claims that the teen would have received his driver's license on the Wednesday after the auto accident. Both were cited for operating a vehicle without a license and failure to reduce speed.

As it happens, the mother would be the party named as a defendant if the girl's parents choose to file a personal injury lawsuit. That's because the parent of a minor child is considered to be responsible for the youngster's behavior. In this instance, a lawsuit may allow the plaintiffs to get reimbursed for their daughter's medical expenses, which could include hospital stays, medical tests, prescription medications, doctor visits, and physical therapy.