A 2013 Chevy Silverado went airborne and flipped over on Route WW near Martin Drive in Fulton on Thursday afternoon, leaving the 56-year-old driver with minor injuries and his 55-year-old passenger seriously hurt. The Missouri State Highway Patrol says the crash happened around 4:40 p.m. when the truck drove off the right side of the roadway, struck an embankment, became airborne, and flipped before coming to rest on the road.
Both men, both from Fulton, were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the crash, according to ABC17NEWS. Missouri State Highway Patrol crash logs, which identify Trooper B.K. Kamp as the investigating officer, show the Silverado was insured through American Family Insurance and hauled away from the scene by Becky's Towing after being declared a total loss. Both men were evaluated at the scene and transported by Callaway County EMS to University Hospital in Columbia.
Why Columbia Was the Destination
University Hospital's Frank L. Mitchell Jr., MD, Trauma Center is the only adult Level 1 Trauma Center in Mid-Missouri and one of just six statewide, a designation verified by the American College of Surgeons, per MU Health Care. That status is why serious crash injuries from rural Callaway County routinely get routed to Columbia rather than a closer facility, and it likely explains why the more seriously injured passenger ended up there alongside his driver.
Route WW falls under Zone 8 of Missouri State Highway Patrol's Troop F, headquartered in Jefferson City and responsible for patrolling 13 counties across Central Missouri. Troop F recorded 60 motor vehicle fatalities across those counties in 2025, a drop from 69 in 2024 and 80 in 2023, according to the patrol's own tallies.
A Road With a History of Rollovers
This is not the first serious wreck on this stretch of highway. A two-vehicle crash west of Millersburg on Route WW in May 2025 left a 51-year-old Callaway County man seriously injured, according to reporting cataloged on the crash reporter's own portfolio. The Missouri Department of Transportation had performed culvert replacement work along Route WW between Sun Meadow Road and County Road 340 back in June 2025, part of routine drainage and roadway maintenance in that corridor.
Rollovers involving pickup trucks have also cropped up elsewhere in Callaway County. In May 2026, a 38-year-old Fulton driver operating a Chevrolet Silverado failed to negotiate a curve on Old Highway 54, crossed the center line, struck another vehicle, and overturned, causing serious injuries, per Missouri State Highway Patrol records. That crash and Thursday's incident both involved Fulton residents in the same make and model of truck leaving their lane before rolling over.
Seatbelts and the Fine Print of Missouri Law
Under Missouri Revised Statutes Section 307.178, drivers and front-seat passengers are required to buckle up, though enforcement is secondary and the fine for an adult violation is just $10. Both Fulton men were belted in Thursday, consistent with state law. Missouri Department of Transportation safety data shows that while 87% of the state's vehicle occupants wear seatbelts, the 13% who don't account for roughly two-thirds of all traffic fatalities statewide, underscoring how much belt use can matter in an airborne, rolling crash like this one.
The Highway Patrol has not indicated what caused the Silverado to leave the pavement on Route WW, and no updated condition report has been released for the seriously injured passenger. Hoodline previously reported on a rollover involving a Fulton woman in Jackson County last month, adding to a string of serious crashes touching the Fulton community in recent weeks.
