The 16-year-old New Canaan boy who suffered “suspected serious injury” following an accident on the Merritt Parkway on Tuesday night is in stable condition at Stamford Hospital, officials say.
The motorist, who had a 17-year-old Stamford girl as a passenger in the car (she suffered “suspected minor injury,” the report said), was driving northbound in the left lane just past Exit 35 when he attempted to merge into the right lane at about 8:07 p.m. and “lost control of the vehicle due to its speed and wet road conditions,” according to an Accident Information Summary report from the State of Connecticut Department of Public Safety’s police division.
The car struck the median guardrail, rolled onto its roof and came to a stop in the center of the roadway, the report said.
The driver was taken by Stamford EMS to Stamford Hospital for treatment of possible serious injury, the report said. A nursing supervisor at the hospital told NewCanaanite.com on Wednesday night that his condition was “stable.” The passenger was treated for minor injuries.
“Enforcement action is pending at this time,” the police report said.
In Connecticut, learner’s permit passenger restrictions for 16- and 17-year-olds require that a motorist holding such a permit may not have any passengers in the car except either a licensed driving instructor giving instruction and others accompanying that instructor, or else “one person who is providing instruction and is at least 20 years old, has held a driver’s license for four or more consecutive years and whose license has not been suspended during the four years prior to training.”
Information, including rules and safety tips for teen drivers, can be found here, on the website of the CT Department of Motor Vehicles Center for Safe Teen Driving.