MACOMB TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A car crash in Macomb Township injured 11 teenagers right after they had finished their final exams.
The teens were involved in a three-car crash Monday on 21 Mile Road and Creekside Boulevard in Macomb Township. Three of the teens were critically injured.
Police said one of the cars carrying five of the teenagers was rear-ended by a pickup truck carrying six of the teens. The first car went flying into another vehicle after the impact.
The driver behind the wheel of one of the cars said he's relieved his friends are OK.
"It was definitely the scariest thing that ever happened to me," Tyler Burton said.
Cellphone video shows the dramatic scene after Burton's car was rear-ended and thrown into another vehicle.
"I'm doing a lot better," Burton said. "I was the least injured and I feel way better after talking to everyone who was injured."
All of the 11 teenagers survived. Alan Weidner, 16, suffered from a concussion, along with scrapes and bruises.
"I just remember waking up on the ground with a paramedic talking to me and then being put in the back of an ambulance," Weidner said.
Tyler Powers was in the back seat of Burton's car, and he wasn't wearing a seat belt.
"I guess I flew out the back window, and then I woke up, started running around and fell on the grass, and then was taken to the hospital," Powers said.
Powers was seriously injured and very shaken up.
"I thought I was not going to live," Powers said. "I was scared I was going to die."
All three teenagers said they have a new outlook on life. They're grateful the outcome wasn't much worse, and they want to share the message not to text and drive, to wear a seat belt and never take life for granted.
Police are still investigating the crash. The driver of the pickup truck said he dropped his cellphone, looked down to pick it up and then rear-ended the car, but it's possible that texting and driving was to blame.
The 64-year-old man driving the third vehicle involved in the crash was sent to the hospital, but his injuries are considered non-life-threatening.
The school where the teenagers were leaving from released the following statement, from Superintendent Erik Edoff:
"L'Anse Creuse is working with both the Sheriff’s Department and the families of the students involved. Our thoughts and prayers are with our students wishing them a speedy recovery."