Emergency personnel responded shortly after 2:20 p.m. Saturday to a multi-vehicle crash on Route 3 northbound just south of North Main Street in Columbia.

Columbia EMS and fire department personnel assisted Columbia police at the scene.

Police said a gray 2013 Volkswagen Passat driven by Joseph Howell, 19, of O’Fallon, was traveling north on Route 3 and rear-ended a black 2016 Chevrolet Malibu driven by Alexander White, 53, of Belleville, which was stopped at the light. White and two passengers, a 57-year-old woman and a 10-year-old boy, were transported by ambulance to Mercy Hospital South in St. Louis County as a precaution.

Howell was cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

The crash scene was cleared by about 3 p.m.