SHABBONA – A Mendota 18-year-old was killed in a traffic crash at the intersection of University Road and Illinois State Route 30 on Thursday near Shabbona, confirmed DeKalb County Coroner Dennis Miller.
William Morano, 18, died from injuries suffered after a crash involving his white 2022 Toyota Sedan and a black 2020 Ford SUV driven by a 65-year-old man from Aurora, according to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to a traffic crash near Shabbona around 6:13 p.m. Thursday.
According to the sheriff’s office, Morano’s vehicle was traveling southbound on University Road at Route 30 and disobeyed a stop sign at University Road, entering the intersection while the Ford SUV driven by the Aurora man was traveling westbound on Route 30. The Ford SUV struck Morano’s vehicle on the driver’s side in the intersection.
DeKalb County Sheriff Chief Deputy Jim Burke said when deputies arrived on the scene, Morano’s vehicle was off in the southwest ditch of the intersection. The Ford SUV was still partially in the roadway.
Burke said Shabbona fire crews arrived first and shut the road down to begin an investigation.
The Aurora man suffered minor injuries and, after talking to deputies at the crash site, was taken by Shabbona paramedics to Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital.
Morano was pronounced dead at the scene by officials with the coroner’s office.
Both drivers were wearing their seatbelts. The crash remains under investigation, and no citations have been issued by the sheriff’s office as of Friday.
Burke said there have been some traffic crashes at the corner of Route 30 and University Road throughout his career but they aren’t frequent occurrences.
“Normally when there is one it’s usually pretty serious because of the speed limit on Route 30,” said Burke.
At the intersection, vehicles traveling either south or north on University Road have a stop sign. However, drivers on Route 30 going east or west, do not.
Burke said the sheriff’s office is still investigating the crash, but stressed the need for extra caution at similar intersections.
“It’s just very, very important on these rural intersections that people take an extra moment to look both ways, especially as we start going into the harvest season,” said Burke. “Also because not only do we have the cars out there, we’re going to be adding farm machinery as well, as they start getting ready.”
Source: The Daily Chronicle
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