Driver hit sand barrels and drove off elevated Wichita highway, KHP says
A 20-year-old Garnett man was hospitalized Wednesday morning after his truck sideswiped a pickup on an elevated portion of southbound I-135 near downtown Wichita, crashed through a barrier wall and drove off the highway.
Ryan Nathan Gettler was taken to Ascension Via Christi St. Francis Hospital with a “suspected minor injury” following the 6:25 a.m. collision, the Kansas Highway Patrol said in a crash report. It’s unclear from the report what caused Gettler to sideswipe the passenger-side mirror of a 2014 Ford pickup and then veer off the road toward the highway exit for 8th and 9th Streets.
Gettler’s truck, a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado, hit some Kansas Department of Transportation sand barrels, went over a barrier wall and drove off the elevated highway. He crashed into a tree on the way to the ground, according to reports, before landing between the highway and the exit ramp, KHP said.
The collision snarled traffic on southbound I-135 throughout much of the morning commute Wednesday. Even after cleaning up the crash, KDOT crews worked into the late morning to clear sand from the highway, Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Chad Crittenden tweeted mid-morning.
This story was originally published January 15, 2020 at 9:46 AM.
