ACCIDENTS

REPORTED

These accident reports were released this past week by law enforcement agencies:

HIGHWAY PATROL

K-15 north of 70th Rd.

Northbound motorcyclist Elisha D. Guest, 50, Newton, was seriously injured at 1:40 p.m. Thursday when a southbound 2002 Honda Civic driven by 18-year-old Zane A. Stephens of Goessel inexplicably crossed the centerline and collided with her Indian Chieftain Horse motorcycle.

Guest, who was wearing a helmet, was rushed to Wesley Medical Center in critical condition.

Stephens, who was not wearing a seatbelt, also was taken to Wesley with what a state trooper characterized as a suspected minor injury.

Traffic was redirected for nearly an hour.

SHERIFF

US-50 east of Sunflower Rd.

Trying to remove a bug that flew into his eye, Johnny C. Echols, 67, Grenada, Mississippi, swerved his eastbound 2018 Freightliner Cascadia semi-trailer truck into the westbound lane at 3:05 p.m. July 27 and side-swiped a 2019 Freightliner Cascadia owned and driven by Robert D. Metzgerth Jr., 55, Clearwater, according to one of five accident reports released Friday by the sheriff’s department.

Both semis remained drivable with damage along their driver’s sides.

Deputy Jesse Raney’s report states that Metzgerth was injured but contains no indication of his being taken to a hospital.

Raney blamed the accident on distracted driving. No tickets were listed as being issued.

Kanza Rd. north of 180th Rd.

Sixteen-year-old Jackson A. Kleiber of rural Hillsboro lost control of a 2005 Ram 350 pickup at 6:27 p.m. July 28 and drove it into a ditch, where it tipped onto its side.

The pickup, owned by Adam M. Kleiber of the same address, sustained disabling damage to its entire passenger side and was towed.

Deputy Peyton Heidebrecht’s report does not offer an explanation of why the driver lost control.

Timber Rd. at 50th Rd.

Robert D. Kyle, 58, rural Peabody, hit a deer at 5:55 a.m. July 29 with his 2019 Ford F-250.

The pickup remained drivable with damage across its front.

K-15 south of 140th Rd.

Attempting to change music on his smart phone, 16-year-old Reymundo H. Ayala of Wichita lost control of his 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 at 3:47 p.m. July 29.

The pickup veered across the highway and into the opposite ditch, hitting a culvert and sustaining disabling damage to its entire driver’s side. It was towed.

Oscar Quintarille, 41, whose address was not listed on deputy Bruce Burke’s report, was a passenger.

Burke blamed the wreck on distracted driving. No tickets were listed as being issued.

US-50 near Nighthawk Rd.

One of two semis stopped for unspecified reasons in the roadway at 6:53 p.m. July 30 rolled backward and into the front of the other.

The front semi, a 2000 International 9900 owned by Thomsen and Sons of LeRoy and driven by Randall D. McDaniel, 60, of Welda, was not damaged, according to deputy Joshua Meliza’s report.

But the rear semi, a 2025 Kenworth T680 owned by Transportation Specialists of Omaha and driven by Edmundo Marquez, 45, of Sawyer, sustained disabling damage to its undercarriage and was towed.

Meliza blamed the wreck on inattentive driving by McDaniel. No tickets were listed as being issued.

HILLSBORO

Sonic Drive-In

The top of a 2019 Ford 750 box truck owned by Thrasher Inc. of Papillion, Nebraska, and driven by Michael W. McQueen, 23, of Wichita scraped the bottom of a pickup window awning at 7:20 p.m. Thursday at Sonic Drive-In, 700 Western Heights Circle.