Wrong-way driver blamed for crash on I-70

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - A car going the wrong way caused a crash on I-70 in western Shawnee Co. late Tuesday morning.

The accident was reported around 11:30 a.m. in the eastbound lanes of I-70 at Auburn Rd.

Officials on-scene tell 13 NEWS that an elderly gentleman was driving the wrong way. The impact was not head-on, but a “graze” or “glance.”

The Kansas Highway Patrol later identified the wrong-way driver as John Sommers, 68, of Gardner.

Sommers was driving a 2003 Ford ZX2 when he hit a 2018 Tesla 3 driven by Terrence O’Neill, 92, of Niwot, Colorado.

The two men, along with O’Neill’s 88-year-old female passenger suffered suspected minor injuries.

Officials say this is the car driven by the elderly man. — Officials say this is the car driven by the elderly man.(WIBW/Eric Ives)

Eastbound I-70 was closed for more than a half-hour while crews worked the scene. Officials started routing traffic around the crash via the Auburn Rd. exit and entrance ramps.

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