A series of injury accidents in southwest Kansas on Thursday
The Kansas Highway Patrol was involved in three cases of vehicle accidents across southwest Kansas on Thursday.
In Finney County, a two-vehicle accident occurred just after 9 am Thursday morning, on US Highway 50 at Raceway Road. According to the KHP report, a 2003 Buick Park Avenue driven by 81-year-old Jerri Maree Jackson was northbound on Raceway Road, when she failed to yield at a stop sign and struck a 2006 Freightliner semi truck driven by 27-year-old Luis Enrrique Lopez Medrano of Garden City, who was eastbound on US Highway 50. Jackson was taken to St. Catherine Hospital in Garden City for suspected serious injuries, while Lopes Medrano had suspected minor injuries. Both were properly restrained, according to the report.
The second round of accidents took place around two minutes apart in Ford County, approximately 1 1.5 miles east of the US Highway 50/US Highway 283 junction, just before 6:45 pm. Three vehicles were involved in the first accident due to stopped traffic. All three involved were eastbound on US Highway 50. A 2022 Peterbuilt semi truck driven by 66-year-old Jerry L. Smith of Clovis, New Mexico stopped in the easbound lane due to stopped traffic. A 2014 GMC Sierra driven by 59-year-old Douglas A. Zimmerman of Spearville rear ended Smith. Also colliding with Smith was a 2016 Toyota Camary driven by 24-year-old Peyton Rincon of Dodge City. Smith and Rincon were uninjured, while Zimmerman was taken to St. Catherine Hospital in Dodge City for suspected serious injuries. All three were wearing seatbelts.
In the second accident that happened at the same location two minutes later, a 2021 Ford Explorer driven by 62-year-old Alethea Peschka of Great Bend struck a 2016 Toyota Camary driven by Peyton Rincon of Dodge City, that was disabled in the roadway from a previous accident. Peschka and passenger, 64-year-old Joseph Peschka, also of Great Bend, were taken to St. Catherine Hospital in Dodge City for suspected serious injuries. All involved were wearing seatbelts, according to the KHP report.
