An 82-year-old Buckner man was airlifted to Columbia with serious injuries Sunday, September 13, after the UTV he was driving crashed and overturned, ejecting him. The crash happened about 11:53 a.m. roughly a mile east of Brunswick, in rural Chariton County.
According to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report, the UTV and patrol car were involved in the crash. As reported by KOMU 8, the patrol car was driven by a 59-year-old Anabel man, who was not listed as injured in the crash report. The Buckner man, thrown from the UTV in the rollover, was not wearing a seat belt, per the same report.
The crash report, filed by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, identifies the vehicles as a 2021 Honda Pioneer side-by-side UTV and a 2020 Dodge Durango patrol car. The UTV was totaled in the crash, while the patrol vehicle sustained moderate damage. The Durango was driven away from the scene, while the wrecked Honda Pioneer had to be towed by a Keytesville auto sales service, the report notes.
Insurance Gap Adds Another Wrinkle
The supplied crash materials do not include insurance information for either vehicle.
Airlifted to Mid-Missouri's Only Level I Trauma Center
MU Health Care identifies University Hospital in Columbia as its hospital facility. The hospital's trauma center is central Missouri's only Level I trauma center.
Missouri law generally bars UTVs like the Honda Pioneer from operating on highways. Missouri Revised Statutes Section 304.032 makes unauthorized highway operation a Class C misdemeanor unless the vehicle qualifies under agricultural, government, or municipal permit exceptions, and the statute caps UTV operating speeds at under 45 mph while requiring the operator of a utility vehicle using a highway under a statutory exception to hold a valid operator's or chauffeur's license. The supplied crash information does not say whether the Buckner man met any exception allowing the UTV onto the highway.
The crash report says the UTV driver was not wearing a seat belt. The supplied materials do not establish whether Missouri regulations require UTV operators to wear seat belts on public highways or require UTVs to have roll cages or roll bars, or whether Honda Pioneer models have a seat-belt speed-limiting system that caps speed at 15 mph when the belt is unlatched or rollover-protection tubing intended to keep occupants inside the frame.
Why Age and Unbuckled Riders Raise the Stakes
This crash involved an older driver who was ejected during an unbelted rollover. The supplied materials do not establish how age affects fatal crash rates or whether physical fragility, rather than crash frequency, explains any increase.
The supplied materials do not provide Missouri's 2025 statewide seat-belt usage rate. They also do not address whether Missouri enforces seat-belt compliance as a secondary offense or whether officers can stop a vehicle solely for a seat-belt violation.
It remains unclear why the UTV struck the patrol car multiple times before the driver overcorrected, and the supplied sources do not report any traffic citations or charges under RSMo 304.032. The crash adds to a string of recent UTV incidents across Missouri, including a fatal Kirksville teen ejection reported by Hoodline earlier this month.
