A motorist suffered suspected serious injury early Saturday when the Toyota 4Runner she was driving went off Interstate 70 1.8 miles east of K-156 in Ellsworth County and struck a drainage culvert. An adult passenger was less seriously injured and two children in the vehicle received possible injures.
According to the Kansas Highway Patrol crash logs, Kelly A. Ferris, 24, from Carbondale was driving the westbound 1997 Toyota at 3:44 a.m. when she lost control of the vehicle, which entered the median and struck a culvert. The Toyota became airborne and then rolled several times, coming to rest on its top in the median.
Ferris, who was not wearing a safety restraint, was taken to Ascension Via Christi St. Francis in Wichita while the passengers were taken to Salina Regional Health Center. Jeffrey S. Swisher, 30, from Emmett, sustained a suspected minor injury. He was wearing a seat belt. Merritt Swisher, age 2, was in a car seat and 4-month-old Durban Swisher was in a rear-facing car seat. They were taken to the hospital due to complaints of pain.