Two people die after wrong-way driver hits truck head-on on Kellogg, police say

Two people are dead after the driver of an extended cab Dodge truck drove eastbound in the westbound lanes of Kellogg on Tuesday morning, causing multiple accidents that ended with a head-on collision with another truck just in front of the Newman University apartments, police said.

The driver of the Dodge Ram 4x4 died at the scene, Wichita police Lt. Joe Kennedy said. The driver of the extended cab GMC 4x4 pickup that was hit head-on died at the hospital, he said.

The first call about a wrong-way driver on Kellogg near I-235 was reported at 9:04 a.m.

Kennedy said the driver caused multiple accidents “before striking the white truck head-on.” The Dodge came to rest with its bed sitting on the median wall that separates the eastbound and westbound lanes.

Jay Hedger said he was driving to work when the vehicles ahead of him started to swerve. He was headed westbound on Kellogg and came over the West Street overpass.

He swerved from the center to the inside lane to miss a head-on collision with the driver of the truck.

“And he just kept driving,” Hedger said. “I looked in my rear view mirror and he didn’t make any attempt to turn around or stop or anything.”

Adam Laplante was also headed to work, getting ready to merge onto I-235, when he noticed a brown truck up ahead coming fast in the wrong direction. Laplante figures the driver was on Kellogg before the I-235 junction.

Laplante said he steered his compact car into the merging lane as the driver of the truck flew by him, going well over the set speed limit.

“He looked focused,” Laplante said about the other driver. “That’s what threw me (for) a loop.”

As he merged, he looked into his rearview mirror and saw drivers swerve to avoid the truck while that driver stayed in the center lane.

All westbound lanes were closed as multiple fire trucks and other emergency vehicles responded to the scene. Police directed traffic off that side of the freeway ahead of the crash site.

Eastbound traffic was also slowed to a crawl, with a tow truck carrying a third vehicle blocking the left lane.

Police said around 9:50 a.m. that westbound Kellogg from Meridian to West streets would be closed for several hours.

Police are asking anyone who saw the incident to call detectives at 316-350-3672.

Contributing: Dion Lefler of The Eagle

This is a developing story and will be updated.

This story was originally published December 21, 2021 at 9:58 AM.