Police: 1 dead, 3 seriously hurt in Lake Shore Drive crash

One person was killed in a wrong-way crash early Monday on Lake Shore Drive. / photo from NVP News Video

(Chicago) Alcohol may have been a factor in wrong-way crash on Lake Shore Drive that left a man dead and three other people seriously injured on the South Side.

A 26-year-old man drove a 2001 Nissan Sentra south into the northbound lanes of the 3900 block of South Lake Shore Drive about 2:40 a.m., police said.

The Nissan tried to swerve left to avoid a head-on collision with a 2011 Ford Fusion, police said. Instead, it side-swiped the Ford, which was carrying two 23-year-old women inside, police said. The Nissan then struck a Chevrolet Impala with four people inside, police said.

The 26-year-old driver of the Nissan was dead at the scene, according to police and fire officials. The Cook County medical examiner’s office could not immediately confirm the fatality.

The 23-year-old man driving the Chevrolet and a 21-year-old woman in the front passenger seat were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in serious condition, police said. A 22-year-old woman in the back seat of the vehicle was taken to Stroger Hospital in serious-to-critical condition, according to fire and police officials.

The women in the Ford declined medical treatment, as did a 25-year-old man riding in the back seat of the Chevrolet.

Alcohol may have factored into the crash and investigators were awaiting toxicology results from an autopsy, police said.

The northbound lanes of Lake Shore Drive were closed for more than four hours after the crash, but were reopened as of 7:15 a.m., police said.

The police Major Accident Investigation Unit is looking into the crash.