Alcohol was involved in a severe automobile crash early Sunday morning that left one woman with life-threatening injuries.
The accident occurred shortly after 3 a.m. on Sunday and was caused by Leslie A. Zumalt, a 31-year-old Raytown woman who was driving while intoxicated westbound on U.S. 50 in the eastbound lanes, according to police. Zumalt's 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt first hit head-on a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by 21-year-old William L. Reifeiss, of Lee's Summit, at eastbound U.S. 50 and Third Street. The collision was not directly head-to-head, which caused the Cobalt to spin and hit a 2000 Chevy Impala driven by Tyler J. Hand, a 28-year-old Raytown man, whose passenger was 18-year-old Lisa M. Michaels of Kansas City.
Reifeiss and Hand also were allegedly intoxicated at the time of the crash and were arrested for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, according to police.
The accident occurred shortly after 3 a.m. on Sunday and was caused by Leslie A. Zumalt, a 31-year-old Raytown woman who was driving while intoxicated westbound on U.S. 50 in the eastbound lanes, according to police. Zumalt's 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt first hit head-on a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by 21-year-old William L. Reifeiss, of Lee's Summit, at eastbound U.S. 50 and Third Street. The collision was not directly head-to-head, which caused the Cobalt to spin and hit a 2000 Chevy Impala driven by Tyler J. Hand, a 28-year-old Raytown man, whose passenger was 18-year-old Lisa M. Michaels of Kansas City.
Reifeiss and Hand also were allegedly intoxicated at the time of the crash and were arrested for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, according to police.
Zumalt suffered life-threatening injuries in the crash. Mike Childs, public information supervisor for the Lee's Summit Police Department, said Zumalt was in critical condition and in a medically induced coma as of Tuesday.
Michaels suffered serious, but not life-threatening, facial lacerations in the crash. Reifeiss and Hand were uninjured in the crash. Childs said Reifeiss probably escaped injury because the collision was not directly head-on.
Childs said it is unclear at this point where Zumalt first began traveling westbound in eastbound lanes, but added he thinks Zumalt began driving the wrong way on the highway before entering Lee's Summit city limits. Childs said that estimation comes from the fact that there was very little time between the first call to the police reporting a wrong-way driver and the calls reporting the head-on collision.
Michaels suffered serious, but not life-threatening, facial lacerations in the crash. Reifeiss and Hand were uninjured in the crash. Childs said Reifeiss probably escaped injury because the collision was not directly head-on.
Childs said it is unclear at this point where Zumalt first began traveling westbound in eastbound lanes, but added he thinks Zumalt began driving the wrong way on the highway before entering Lee's Summit city limits. Childs said that estimation comes from the fact that there was very little time between the first call to the police reporting a wrong-way driver and the calls reporting the head-on collision.
Childs said while it's not rare for police to receive calls about a wrong-way driver on U.S. 50, the number of serious accidents caused by wrong-way drivers are surprisingly minimal.
"Do we get a lot of calls about people driving the wrong way on the highway? Sure, we do," Childs said. "But we could go years before having something like (Sunday's accident) occur again."
Childs said many instances of wrong-way drivers on U.S. 50 are caused by honest mistakes of the drivers, who may be "confused by the outer road system."
Dont get me started on drunk drivers I would be hear all night who here has turned onto the wrong way of a oneway road
"Do we get a lot of calls about people driving the wrong way on the highway? Sure, we do," Childs said. "But we could go years before having something like (Sunday's accident) occur again."
Childs said many instances of wrong-way drivers on U.S. 50 are caused by honest mistakes of the drivers, who may be "confused by the outer road system."
By Brett Dalton
The Journal Staff
The Journal Staff
Posted: Tuesday, January 8, 2008 7:19 PM CST
source http://www.lsjournal.comDont get me started on drunk drivers I would be hear all night who here has turned onto the wrong way of a oneway road
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