Accidents add up around Wichita area during record snowfall. Here’s how many

Crashes added up Friday morning in Wichita and around Sedgwick County as snowy roads caused more than 10 times the number of accidents from the day before, according to data from Sedgwick County Emergency Communications.

From midnight to 10:30 a.m. Friday, emergency communications received reports on 108 accidents. At least a few of those appear to be duplicate calls.

Only one of those accidents was reported as an injury accident. That one occurred around 5:37 a.m. on West Kellogg at West.

Fifteen of the calls had an unknown injury report. The rest were reported as non-injury wrecks.

More than 80 of the 108 reports had a Wichita address. Derby had the second most with 10.

There were nine calls, including one injury accident, during the same period the day before.

Wichita saw over 3 inches of snow fall Friday morning, surpassing the previous Jan. 5 record of 2.6 inches set in 1929. The snow is expected to stop falling around 4 p.m. The final total could reach 4 inches.

The snow caused the Wichita Police Department and Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office to implement their emergency accident reporting plans, which allow drivers in non-injury accidents when vehicles can be driven and no crime is suspected, like driving under the influence, to exchange information and report the accident later.

The sheriff’s office canceled the county plan shortly before noon.

Emergency reporting is meant to free up officers and to promote safety since it gets people off the roads more quickly.

This story was originally published January 5, 2024 at 12:55 PM.