Three seniors at the University of Chicago Lab School on a spring-break bicycle trip in southern Illinois were hit by a van Wednesday, killing one of them and injuring the other two.

A wall entry posted March 21 on a Facebook page apparently belonging to Baird reads “3 friends, 3 bikes, 500 miles, let’s do this.”

The incident happened about 2 p.m. at Shawneetown/New Haven Road and Ponds Settlement Road, police said.

A minivan headed south on Shawneetown/New Haven and driven by an 86-year-old man crossed the center line and hit all three of teens as they rode in the opposite direction.

The driver of the van, an Enfield, Ill., man, was not injured. Police are still investigating the incident.

Old people behind the wheel scare the hell out of me, probably even moreso than road-rage drivers. It’s so sad to read about such young lives forever changed and cut short. Just the fact that three high school girls wanted to spend their spring break on a bike trip around Illinois in March tells me that these are some special kids.