The Kansas Highway Patrol says four people were injured in crashes on Interstate 435 near Midland Drive in Shawnee on Saturday afternoon.
Troopers were first called to the southbound lanes of I-435 just after 2 p.m. following reports of a motorcycle crash.
According to the highway patrol’s online crash log, the motorcycle’s operator lost control of the bike and went off the right side of the highway.
Troopers later identified the rider as a 37-year-old Shawnee woman.
The 2007 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-600R motorcycle stopped in the grass between southbound I-435 and the exit ramp to Midland Drive.
As traffic began to slow to a stop for arriving emergency vehicles at the motorcycle crash, another crash happened.
Troopers say a 2022 Jeep Wagoneer slowed to a stop in a lane and was then rear-ended by a 2012 Ford Explorer.
The Highway Patrol’s crash log for the initial crash says that the motorcycle operator was transported by Johnson County Med-Act ambulance to an area hospital with a “suspected serious injury.” She was wearing a helmet, according to the Highway Patrol.
Three occupants of the Ford Explorer involved in the second crash sustained minor injuries and were transported to a hospital by ambulances.
According to Johnson County Med-Act, all of the injured were in stable condition at the scene. No one in the Jeep Wagoneer was injured.
Highway Patrol troopers and Shawnee police officers closed all lanes of southbound I-435 as they investigated the crash. Traffic was diverted to Shawnee Mission Parkway until tow trucks could remove damaged vehicles and debris from the highway.
The southbound lanes reopened shortly after 3 p.m.
