A teenager was hit by a car near Benton City Saturday as he tried to free a car that apparently had slid off Interstate 82.

Nathaniel Banks, 18, of Yakima, was taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland, according to the Washington State Patrol.

He had been riding in a Nissan Sentra driven by Ana Ventura, 17, of Yakima, when the car went off the road into the median at 4:18 p.m. three miles west of Benton City. Snow was falling in much of the Mid-Columbia at the time.

He and Ventura's car were hit by a Nissan Exterra driven by Rosa Mendoza, 45, of Pasco, who lost control of her car, according to the state patrol.