MESOPOTAMIA, Ohio (WYTV) – An ATV crash Sunday night in northern Trumbull County is under investigation. Two young adults were taken to the hospital — one who was seriously hurt.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol said it believes speed and alcohol are factors in the accident.
It happened on Wilcox Road, west of State Route 534, in Mesopotamia just before 9:15 p.m.
Troopers said the ATV was headed west when the driver hit a tree while going around a curve.
Both 18-year-old William Byler and his passenger, 22-year-old Cindy Hershberger, were thrown from the ATV.
“We did find a four-wheeler, ATV/four-wheeler, into a pine tree,” said Mesopotamia Volunteer Fire Department Chief James Loza. “A young gentleman on the ground, unresponsive. We discovered the kid was not wearing a helmet.”
Byler was seriously hurt and flown by helicopter to University Hospital in Cleveland.
Hershberger was taken to Geauga Medical Center in an ambulance. She was not seriously hurt.
“Amish kids are getting more and more of these four-wheelers and they’ll drive them around,” Loza said. “They are dangerous. They’re not supposed to be on the roads, they’re supposed to be in fields.”