A 17-year-old boy was pulled from a burning van moments after the vehicle skidded off the road and rammed into a traffic light pole at Governor Warfield Parkway and Little Patuxent Parkway early yesterday afternoon.
The boy, who was not identified because of his age, was driven by ambulance to the Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. He suffered severe head and neck injuries after hitting the steering wheel and windshield of the light blue Ford AeroStar van he was driving.
Police said slippery road conditions apparently played a part in the 12:40 p.m. accident, but investigators were not sure if the youth was driving faster than the 35 mph posted limit near the busy Town Center intersection.
According to police, the teen-ager was driving west on Little Patuxent Parkway when the van ran off the road, crossed the median and hit the 21-foot steel traffic pole near the eastbound lane before coming to a stop.
Two of the youth's friends following behind in a car pulled over and helped the victim from the van, which had caught fire, said Lt. Michael Gearhart, a fire and rescue spokesman.