A 52-year-old Olathe woman died Monday morning after losing control of her SUV on an Interstate 35 exit ramp in Johnson County, striking a guardrail before her vehicle careened across an entire intersection and came to rest in a ditch in Merriam. Angela Carter was pronounced dead at the scene following the crash, which happened around 10 a.m. on the ramp from northbound I-35 to West 75th Street, near the Overland Park-Merriam boundary.
Carter was driving a 2024 Chevrolet Suburban that first struck a guardrail, according to a crash report cited by FOX 4 Kansas City; the Johnson County Post reported that the impact occurred approximately 200 feet south of 75th Street, before the SUV crossed the entire intersection and hit several medians. The SUV ultimately stopped in a ditch after traveling across the multi-lane roadway, a trajectory detailed by the Johnson County Post. The Kansas Highway Patrol is investigating the cause of the crash.
The wreck occurred near a municipal boundary. 75th Street divides Overland Park to the south from Merriam to the north, and responders from both cities were present, the Post reports.
Ramp Closed for Hours During Investigation
Kansas Highway Patrol troopers shut down the entrance ramp to northbound I-35 from 75th Street for nearly three hours while they worked the scene, not reopening it until shortly before 1 p.m., per the same account.
First-responder radio traffic during the emergency response suggested Carter's loss of control may have stemmed from a medical emergency, though official Kansas Highway Patrol crash logs did not list a medical factor as a cause, the Post reports. The cause remains under investigation.
A Corridor With a History of Off-Road Crashes
Monday's crash adds to a string of single-vehicle, off-road wrecks along the I-35 corridor in Johnson County this year. On August 31, a 43-year-old Kansas City man died in Olathe after his Dodge Challenger left northbound I-35 near 159th Street and struck a bridge pillar, as Hoodline previously reported.
The Santa Fe Street interchange with I-35 in Olathe is also the subject of a project.
Closer to the scene of Monday's crash, Overland Park alone documented 3,429 traffic collisions in 2024, resulting in 1,272 injuries, according to the Law Office of Daniel E. Stuart.
No further details about Carter or the circumstances of the crash have been released. The Kansas Highway Patrol's investigation remains active.
