HUMBOLDT — The drivers of a sport utility vehicle and a semitractor-trailer unit escaped serious injury Wednesday afternoon after they collided along Tank Farm Road just south of Humboldt.
Gerry G. Waltz, 72, Overland Park, was entering Tank Farm Road from the U.S. 169 southbound off-ramp, when his sport utility vehicle collided with an eastbound truck driven by Wesley G. Gahman, 60, Erie.
Gahman’s truck then slammed into the Tank Farm Road overpass guardrail over U.S. 169 and jackknifed.
The impact of the truck caused extensive damage to the guardrail, but it largely remained in place.
“It worked exactly as it was designed to,” Sheriff’s Deputy Daren Kellerman noted.
Kellerman also praised the truck driver for maneuvering enough to prevent a head-on collision.
“Somebody could have died out there,” he said.
Rescue crews from the Humboldt Volunteer Fire Department and Iola Fire Department assisted sheriff’s deputies and Kansas Department of Transportation workers.
The overpass was closed through the afternoon until the wreckage was cleared, but has since been reopened.
Drivers unscathed in Tank Farm Rd wreck
