A 15-year-old Crystal Lake boy remains in a medically induced coma after his electric bicycle collided with a car near Prairie Ridge High School last week, his family says. The teenager, identified by relatives as Jack Beatty, suffered a severe brain injury in the crash and has not regained consciousness since, according to his parents.
Beatty's parents own Dark Heart Tattoo in Crystal Lake, and they went public with his identity and condition to rally community support, as reported by CBS Chicago. The station reported the teen was riding a Super73 Class II e-bike when it collided with a 2017 Ford C-Max around 1 p.m. last Wednesday at the intersection of Walkup Road and Dvorak Drive, just outside the high school in unincorporated Crystal Lake, according to Lake & McHenry County Scanner.
Preliminary findings from the McHenry County Sheriff's Office indicate the teen was the at-fault party, having failed to yield to the northbound vehicle while crossing Walkup Road, per an update detailed by McHenry County Blog. The driver of the Ford C-Max, a 66-year-old Crystal Lake woman, was uninjured and cooperated fully with the sheriff's Major Crash Investigation Unit, according to FOX 32 Chicago.
Emergency Response and a Scramble to Get the Teen to Care
Crystal Lake Fire Rescue crews arrived within four minutes of the crash and initially requested a LifeNet medical helicopter, but transported the teen by ambulance to Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital after the aircraft was delayed, Patch reported. He was later airlifted from there to Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, where he remains in the medically induced coma described by his family.
It is not yet known whether the sheriff's Major Crash Investigation Unit will issue formal citations once its probe concludes, a question that remains open as the case continues. Dark Heart Tattoo, located at 121 N. Main St. in Crystal Lake, is planning a fundraising flash event and raffle on August 22 and 23, alongside an online campaign to help cover the Beatty family's medical expenses, CBS Chicago reported.
A Pattern of Serious Youth E-Bike Crashes This Summer
The crash is the latest in a string of severe teen e-bike collisions across McHenry and Lake counties this summer. In July, two 15-year-old girls were seriously injured — one critically — when an SUV struck the single e-bike they were sharing in nearby Libertyville, as Hoodline previously reported.
Illinois State Senator Darby Hills pointed to both the Crystal Lake crash and a separate fatal e-scooter collision involving a 16-year-old in Chicago while calling for urgent passage and enforcement of statewide micromobility safety rules, according to FOX 32 Chicago. Under current state law, Class 3 e-bikes capable of speeds up to 28 mph require riders to be at least 16 years old, but Class 1 and 2 e-bikes — the category involved in the Crystal Lake crash — carry no statewide minimum age, though riders must still obey all traffic control laws, per guidance from Ride Illinois.
The Illinois General Assembly passed Senate Bill 3336 in May, a measure backed by Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias to establish uniform statewide rules, speed limits, and age requirements for e-bikes and other micromobility devices starting in 2027, according to Capitol News Illinois. Until those rules take effect, how local high schools and municipal leaders in Crystal Lake plan to address e-bike traffic safety around campus zones ahead of the new school year remains an open question.
