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Two killed in three-vehicle crash on Route 173 in Wadsworth: authorities

By Lauren Westphal
Published  February 26, 2026 3:51pm CST
Lake County
FOX 32 Chicago

The Brief

    • Two people were killed in a three-vehicle crash Thursday morning on Route 173 in Wadsworth.
    • Authorities say a 51-year-old Wisconsin man driving an Acura drifted into oncoming traffic, hitting a semi-truck head-on before a minivan struck the Acura.
    • The Acura driver and his passenger died at the scene; the minivan driver was hospitalized with minor injuries, and the semi-truck driver was unhurt.

WADSWORTH, Ill. - Two people were killed in a three-vehicle crash in Wadsworth on Thursday, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

What we know:

Around 7:05 a.m., Lake County Sheriff's deputies and Newport Township Fire were dispatched to a head-on collision on Route 173 west of North Kilbourne Road.

An investigation revealed that a 2009 Acura sedan, driven by a 51-year-old man of Wisconsin, was traveling eastbound on Route 173. According to witnesses, the driver appeared to be unable to maintain his lane and continued eastbound, drifting into the path of a westbound Freightliner semi-truck. 

The semi-truck, driven by a 25-year-old man of Evergreen Park, and the Acura collided head-on. Then an eastbound Honda minivan, driven by a 54-year-old woman of Wisconsin, crashed into the Acura.

The 51-year-old male driver of the Acura and a front-seat passenger, a 45-year-old woman of Wisconsin, were pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the Honda was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. 

The driver of the semi-truck was uninjured.

The crash is currently under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff's Office Technical Crash Investigations Team.

The Source: Details for this story were provided by the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Lake CountyNews