A morning drive by a Knightstown teenager, Ryan H. Emard, 18, and two friends to pick up another friend before heading off to school resulted in one of the unidentified teens being injured shortly after 8:30 a.m. Monday.

Emard was southbound in the 11,000 block of Goose Road when he lost control of his 1990 Chevrolet Lumina and entered a side ditch before striking a tree on the east side of the county road.

According to investigating officer Carthage Deputy Marshal Richard Sterns, speed is not believed to be a factor in the injury accident.

“The driver told me he was going about 40 mph when he reached into the back seat of the car to retrieve a book bag. In doing so, his knee inadvertently hit the steering wheel causing the car to leave the east side shoulder of the road and he simply could not pull it back before hitting the tree,” Sterns said.

The force of the impact caused both front seat airbags in the vehicle to deploy. Emard and another passenger were not injured in the accident although a front seat passenger sustained unspecified facial injuries and was treated at the scene by Carthage EMS personnel before being transported to Hancock Regional in Greenfield.

Although not believed to be life threatening, the full extent of his injuries was unknown at press time.

Responding to the accident were units from CPD, Rush County Sheriff’s department, Carthage Volunteer Fire Department, Carthage EMS and Davis Towing.

Frank Denzler can be contacted at (765) 932-2222 ext. 106 or via e-mail at frank.denzler@rushvillerepublican.com. To add a comment to this story visit our Web site at www.rushvillerepublican.com.