A van driven by an 18-year-old man crossed the center line and slammed into an oncoming pickup in Ellicott on Thursday afternoon, injuring both drivers and three children in the pickup, authorities said.

Clinton Peterson of Colorado Springs was in serious condition at Memorial Hospital on Thursday evening and the other driver, 21-year-old Amy Giegerich of Ellicott, was in fair condition at Memorial, a hospital spokesman said.

Giegerich’s three children — ages 5 months, 4 and 5 — were also taken to Memorial, reportedly with minor injuries.

The crash at North Ellicott Highway and Jones Road was reported just after 12:30 p.m., the Colorado State Patrol said.

According to the state patrol, Peterson was northbound in a 1975 Chevy van on Ellicott Highway when his van crossed into the oncoming lanes and collided with a Giegerich’s oncoming 2005 Ford F-250 pickup. The children were properly restrained in child seats in the back seat of the four-door truck, the state patrol said.

Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the van to cross over, authorities said.

A helicopter sent from Memorial Hospital was grounded before making it to the crash scene because of poor visibility, hospital spokesman Chris Valentine said. The medic and flight crew ended up riding in an ambulance with the patient they were sent to transport, Valentine said.

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A Colorado State patrolman investigates the scene of a two-car multiple injuries wreck on North Ellicott Highway just north of the Jones Road intersection Thursday. Photo by CHRISTIAN MURDOCK, THE GAZETTE

Christian murdock