Four injured, three seriously, in wrong way crash on I-670


KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A wrong-way driver slammed into an SUV on Tuesday afternoon, leaving the driver that caused the crash and two others seriously hurt.

The crash happened on Interstate 670 over the West Bottoms on the Missouri side of the state line. Police are now trying to figure out why the woman was driving the wrong way.

Police don't know exactly how far the woman drove the wrong way on the interstate, but before she slammed into an SUV, she passed several cars, including one driven by Ginny Coombs.

"It was probably one of the scariest moments of my life," Coombs said.

She said she was headed home from a friend’s house with her four-year-old daughter just before 1:30 p.m. They were driving eastbound on 670, when Coombs saw a woman driving on the interstate in the opposite direction.

"So I kind of did one of those kind of shake your head and blink twice to make sure that wasn't happening, but no, there was a four-door white Taurus headed right for us,” Coombs described.

Coombs said there were just about 10 feet between her car and the wrong-way driver when she swerved into the right lane, narrowly missing being hit head on.

"I started honking the horn, tried waving at the lady as she flew past us. And like I said, she appeared to be slumped down in the seat a little bit, maybe her eyes were shut. I mean I couldn't really see, she flew past us,” Coombs said.

Police estimate the wrong-way driver could have been going as fast as 90 miles per hour. After she flew by, Coombs says the woman kept going, and as Coombs looked behind her...

"At the split-second I looked back into the rear-view mirror and that SUV is up, flipped in the air, and just hit the guard rail and plastered,” Coombs said. "I don't ever think I've seen that big of an SUV flip that high in the air."

Police say two people in the SUV were taken to the hospital in serious condition. The woman driving the wrong way suffered critical injuries.

"My heart goes out to the people that are now hurt because like I said, that could have been me and my little girl,” Coombs said.

Police say there was a fourth person who suffered minor injuries. Coombs said it looked like the woman was sleeping or somehow passed out. Other witnesses at the scene told police it looked like she was crying. They are now trying to sort out exactly what happened to cause this crash.
