Woman whose car was dragged 8 miles under semi had been drinking, ran red light, crash report states

The Kia was dragged eight miles on the interstate before the semi driver noticed. The woman inside suffered only minor injuries.(Leawood Police Department)
Published: Jan. 27, 2023 at 12:15 PM CST

KANSAS CITY, Mo./LEAWOOD, Ks. (KCTV) - A newly-released crash report states the woman whose car was dragged eight miles under a semi truck following a crash Wednesday in Leawood had been drinking beforehand and ran a red light.

The crash report states a 28-year-old woman early Wednesday morning drove her Kia compact car through a red light at State Line Road off of Interstate 435 and lodged it into the side of a Freightliner Cascadia truck. The truck kept going on the on-ramp to westbound I-435, dragging the car underneath for the next eight miles, finally coming to rest near Lackman Road in Lenexa.

The car sustained significant damage, but the woman inside suffered only non-life-threatening injuries. She was conscious and taken to the hospital for evaluation, according to the Leawood Police Department.

The crash report, released on Friday, states the truck’s driver---a 70-year-old Overland Park man---told police he did feel a bump while driving from State Line Road onto the on-ramp, but believed it was his tires hitting the curb. Asked if anything felt strange afterward, he said he vehicle felt “sluggish,” according to the report.

The woman had to be extricated from the vehicle by the Overland Park Fire Department. She told Overland Park police on the scene she had been coming back from a bar in downtown Kansas City at the time of the crash. She had consumed alcohol at the bar, but believed she was able to safely operate her vehicle.

For the portion of the crash report noting the status of the woman, the report has check-marks under “Alcohol” next to “Evidential Test (Breath, Blood, etc.)” and next to “Observed (Odor, staggering, slurred speech, etc.)”. The report notes that results are pending.

The truck driver showed no evidence of drug or alcohol impairment, the crash report states.

There do not appear to be any charges filed in the incident, as of Friday afternoon.