Multiple wrecks reported on Wichita area highways Friday as light, freezing drizzle fell
The Wichita area saw a slew of wrecks, including one fatality, Friday afternoon after a light, freezing drizzle fell on the roads.
Though not all of the wrecks detailed in the Kansas Highway Patrol crash log mention the weather as a contributor.
Sedgwick County highways saw one fatal wreck and four injury accidents, including one that involved a school bus in a six-vehicle crash on southbound I-235 just west of Broadway. The injuries in all of the Sedgwick County incidents, including a rollover, were suspected to be minor.
In all, 13 injury accidents and two fatal crashes were reported Friday on highways across the state, the KHP crash log shows. Two injury wrecks and one fatal accident occurred Thursday in Kansas.
Until Friday, the KHP hadn’t reported an injury accident in Sedgwick County all week.
Around Wichita, the worst of the freezing drizzle came between 3 and 7 p.m., National Weather Service meteorologist Rudolph Williams said. The wrecks on Sedgwick County highways all happened between 3:13 and 4:45 p.m.
The drizzle was more constant in Harvey County, but spotty in Sedgwick County and likely most noticeable on overpasses, the Wichita meteorologist said.
On Sedgwick County highways, the injury wrecks all occurred on I-235 or I-135.
The fatal wreck was the first to happen.
It occurred around 3:13 p.m. on I-135, south of 101st Street North in Park City. A 26-year-old Newton woman was headed south when, “for (an) unknown reason,” she crossed the median and hit a northbound semi, according to the crash log. The driver of the semi wasn’t injured.
On the crash reports, only the fatality and one other wreck in Sedgwick County don’t mention the weather as a factor in the crash, though that doesn’t mean it didn’t impact the events.
The other wreck that doesn’t mention the weather happened on southbound I-135 as traffic backed up because of an accident in the other direction. A couple of people in that two-vehicle crash were taken to a hospital with suspected minor injuries, a KHP trooper wrote in the crash log.
The six-vehicle wreck on I-235 happened as “all vehicles slowed due to traffic, weather conditions and an additional accident,” the crash log says. The wreck started when a 35-year-old Wichita man driving a 2018 Dodge Ram lost control.
It was reported at 4 p.m. A school bus was involved in the crash, but it was not transporting any passengers.
Three people had minor injuries, but refused to be taken to a hospital, a Sedgwick County Emergency Communications supervisor said.
The last reported injury wreck on Sedgwick County highways happened around 4:45 p.m. on I-235 north, about one mile south of the K-96/I-235 junction. A 54-year-old Wichita man driving a 2001 Ford Ranger left the road to the right and overturned, according to the crash report. He was taken to a hospital with suspected minor injuries.
“Icy road conditions contributed,” the trooper wrote.
This story was originally published February 25, 2023 at 1:00 PM.