Crashes pile up in Wichita area; more than 100 calls because of slick road conditions

More than 100 reports were recorded in the Wichita area Thursday morning because of snowy or icy road conditions, officials said.

Kansas Highway Patrol trooper Chad Crittenden said that troopers responded to about 115 calls since midnight. He said around 40 calls were accidents and the rest were slide-offs or mechanical issues, with two injuries reported total.

“It’s bad, it’s just constant,” he said.

Crittenden said the majority of the crashes during the late morning occurred on K-96 around Woodlawn and Oliver, and K-96 near the Arkansas River.

“The majority of our problem today is people driving too fast,” Crittenden said, adding he’s been driving roughly 35 mph from wreck to wreck.

The Wichita Police Department also responded to a multiple-vehicle accident at around 6 :50 a.m. on westbound Kellogg, near West Street. Dispatchers said one caller reported three vehicles were involved, another reported four or five, but there could have been even more.

Westbound Kellogg lanes were temporarily closed down after the accident, Officer Charley Davidson said.

The National Weather Service reported spots in Wichita having as much as 3 inches snowfall.

The city of Wichita said in a tweet that crews started to apply “heavy salt/sand mixture” a little after midnight but the drop in temperatures made the salt less effective.

Wichita police put the Emergency Accident Reporting Plan into effect at 6:17 a.m. The EARP allows drivers in a non-injury accident, where the vehicles are still driveable, to exchange information and later fill out an accident report. The accident reports can be filled out at a QuikTrip, Kwik Shop, online at wichitapolice.com or at any police station during regular office hours.

The accident-reporting plan was canceled at 12:49 p.m.

This story was originally published February 20, 2020 at 11:59 AM.