Two cars collided Friday afternoon at the intersection of U.S. 56/77/K-150 near Marion, sending three passengers to St. Luke Hospital in Marion but all escaped critical injuries.

According to Marion County Sheriff Deputy Mike Ottensmeier, Dale C. Wealand, 69, Elmdale, was eastbound on U.S. 56 and had stopped at the intersection before crossing U.S. 77 to K-150. He did not see a southbound 2002 Honda passenger car, driven by Gretchen Strathe, 19, Wichita, and the two vehicles collided.

The 2001 Ford F-150 pickup, driven by Wealand and registered to Prairieland Partners Inc. of Marion, came to rest in a ditch on the east side of U.S. 77, the front driver’s side quarter-panel crushed from the impact.

The Honda rolled into a ditch on the west side of U.S. 77, after traveling about 300 feet from the site of the crash. Brooke Strathe, 19, Wichita, was a passenger in the Honda.

Ottensmeier estimated that the Honda was traveling the speed limit at the time of the crash. Wealand had less than a second to react before the crash occurred.

“It takes 1.5 to two seconds to take your foot off the accelerator and put it on the brake,” he said. “You don’t see skid marks in the intersection. Everything happens in a split second. That’s why they’re called accidents.”