Alaska State Troopers in Ketchikan opened an investigation at 3:30 am Monday morning on the North Tongass Highway after it was reported by the North Tongass Fire Department that an un-occupied, overturned, vehicle was discovered in the ditch at mile 12.6 of the highway.

At 10:04 am, troopers contacted the 16-year-old driver of the 2007 Chevy Cobalt, who told troopers that she had swerved to avoid a deer and had drove into the ditch, before jumping a driveway and drove up an embankment before rolling.

The teen, who was not identified because of her age, and her 20-year-old passenger left the scene after the accident and were picked up by a passer-by.

According to the report, both the driver and the passenger suffered minor injuries in the incident, but refused medical treatment.

Troopers reported that “The driver was cited for Negligent Driving and Operating in Violation of a Provisional Driver’s License.” Additionally, “charges of failure to report Immediate Notice of Accident involving damage/ injuries will be forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office for review,” troopers say.[xyz-ihs snippet=”Adsense-responsive”]

  Alaska, crash, deer, highway, juvenile, ketchikan, leaving the scene, negligent driving, north tongass, southeast, teen