A wrong-way driver was killed in a crash with another vehicle on U.S. Highway 169 just outside of Spring Hill late Friday night.
According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, the crash happened at about 11:06 p.m. in the southbound lanes of US-169 Highway north of 183rd Street.
The Highway Patrol’s online crash log says 31-year-old Naol Gemeda of Olathe was driving a 2017 Nissan Rogue northbound in the southbound lanes of the highway.
The wrong-way Nissan SUV crashed head-on into a 2017 Ford F-150 pickup truck that was driving south in the left lane.
Firefighters from Johnson County Consolidated Fire District No. 1 and Johnson County Med-Act paramedics responded to the scene along with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, Spring Hill Police and Olathe Police.
Recorded radio traffic from arriving firefighters reported two vehicles were involved in the crash and that both had sustained heavy damage.
Gemeda, the driver of the Nissan SUV, died at the crash scene, the Kansas Highway Patrol said.
Troopers identified the driver of the Ford truck as a 48-year-old man from Spring Hill. He was taken by ambulance to an area hospital with what troopers described as a “suspected serious injury.”
Johnson County Med-Act described the man’s condition as “stable.”
Troopers closed the southbound lanes of US-169 from 175th Street to 183rd Street as they investigated the crash scene.
Firefighters used the ladder of one fire truck to provide scene lighting as troopers documented the crashed vehicles.
Tow truck operators cleaned up the scene, and troopers reopened the southbound lanes shortly after 2:30 a.m. on Saturday.
No other details were immediately available.
