A Kansas City, Kansas, man is in critical condition after a pickup truck crashed into a tree at the interchange between Interstate 35 and U.S. 69 Highway on Thursday evening.
Kansas Highway Patrol Troopers say a 2002 GMC Sonoma pickup truck was southbound on the ramp from I-35 to U.S. 69 at about 7:15 p.m.
“For an unknown reason, Vehicle 1 left the roadway to the left, continued into the ditch, and struck a tree,” the Highway Patrol’s crash log says.
No other vehicles were involved in the crash.
Several witnesses stopped to call for help and check on the driver.
Overland Park firefighters and Johnson County Med-Act responded and worked for about 45 minutes to safely remove the driver from the heavily damaged pickup truck.
Troopers have identified the driver as a 64-year-old Kansas City, Kansas, man and say he was not wearing a seatbelt.
A Med-Act ambulance transported the man to Overland Park Regional Medical Center in critical condition.
The Kansas Highway Patrol closed the ramp to southbound U.S. 69 as the man was extricated from the truck, and troopers investigated the crash scene.
All lanes reopened at 9:10 p.m.
Mike Frizzell is a freelance crime and fire reporter who runs Operation 100 News.
