Lawrence man seriously injured in I-70 crash near exit 202
A Lawrence man was seriously hurt when his Jeep hit an unoccupied SUV blocking westbound I-70 near Exit 202, shutting down traffic by the McDonald Drive exit.
An unoccupied SUV blocking westbound Interstate 70 near Lawrence turned a routine late-night drive into a serious crash that sent a 20-year-old Lawrence man to the hospital. Creighton Daggett was wearing a seat belt when his 1999 Jeep Wrangler struck the rear of a 2026 Dodge Durango near Exit 202 and the McDonald Drive exit, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol.
The wreck was reported at 11:56 p.m. Thursday in the westbound lanes near the north side of Lawrence. After the impact, Daggett’s Jeep went into the median and hit a barrier wall. He was taken to Overland Park Regional Medical Center with injuries suspected to be serious.
The Durango was unoccupied and blocking traffic in one of the roadway’s three lanes, making the scene especially dangerous for anyone approaching at highway speed. The immediate risk was not just the stalled vehicle itself, but the chain reaction that followed once Daggett struck it and lost control. On a corridor like I-70, a single disabled or stopped vehicle can become a major hazard in seconds.
The crash also shut down portions of the interstate and forced traffic to be rerouted, a reminder for Douglas County commuters that problems near Lawrence exits can spread quickly across the broader travel network. Kansas Department of Transportation’s KanDrive system posts real-time incident, closure and detour updates for Kansas roads, including I-70 and the Kansas Turnpike, because disruptions in this area can affect drivers well beyond the crash scene.
The Kansas Highway Patrol says preliminary injury and fatality crash information is posted online for 14 days and can remain up to 30 days if updated, but official reports supersede the preliminary log. More complete details can be obtained through the Kansas Highway Patrol Records Department. Transportation planning materials from the City of Lawrence say Transportation 2050 is intended to guide a safe, healthy and efficient system for Lawrence and Douglas County into 2050 and beyond, underscoring how heavily the community depends on keeping this highway corridor moving safely.
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