Park City wreck in snowy weather kills Newton man, seriously hurts Hillsboro girl, woman

A Kansas man is dead after crashing head-on into another vehicle on the interstate in Sedgwick County.

A woman and a teenage girl in the other vehicle were taken to a Wichita hospital with serious injuries.

Emergency crews were called at around 2:52 p.m. Tuesday to an injury accident on southbound I-135 near 85th Street in Park City, Kansas Highway Patrol troopers wrote in a crash log.

Investigators determined a 2000 Buick Century was northbound, but crossed the median before continuing northbound into the oncoming southbound traffic. The car crashed head-on into a 2011 Ford Flex.

The Buick driver was pronounced dead at the scene. He was identified by state troopers as 41-year-old Travis Smith, of Newton.

The 16-year-old driver of the Ford was taken to Wesley Medical Center with suspected serious injuries, as was a 43-year-old passenger. The girl and woman, who are from Hillsboro, have the same last name.

The KHP crash report does not indicate whether wintry weather was a contributing factor in the wreck.

The county was under a National Weather Service winter weather advisory at the time, which warned drivers: “Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions will impact the evening commute.”

At the same time the crash was reported, the weather service announced 0.9 inches of snow had been recorded at its west Wichita facility.

This story was originally published December 15, 2020 at 8:59 PM.