Driver, 18, left with serious injuries following rear-end collision with semi-truck

PRATT, Kan. (WIBW) - A south-central Kansas collision ended with one driver in the hospital with serious injuries after she attempted to stop behind a semi-truck at a rural railroad crossing.

The Kansas Highway Patrol Crash Log says that just after 12:20 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 12, emergency crews were called to the area of mile marker 143 on eastbound Highway 54 - about 4 miles east of Pratt - with reports of a 2-vehicle collision.

When first responders arrived, they said they found a 2021 Freightliner semi-truck driven by Daniel J. Lucas, 47, of White Pine, Tenn., and a 2005 Jeep Wrangler driven by Izabella R. Lampe, 18, of Kingman, had been headed west on the highway.

KHP said Lucas attempted to stop his semi at a marked railroad crossing and Lampe attempted to follow suit, however, she ran into the back of Lucas’s trailer.

First responders said Lampe was taken to St. Francis Hospital in Wichita with suspected serious injuries. Lucas and his passenger, Darrel W. Edwards, 60, of La Folette, Tenn., both escaped the crash without injury.