A motorcyclist was critically injured Tuesday evening near Blue Ridge Cutoff in Kansas City after colliding with a black GMC Terrain that was turning left onto westbound I-70, throwing the rider onto the concrete roadway. The crash happened just before 4:45 p.m., and both drivers ended up in the hospital.
According to KCTV, police said the motorcycle struck the GMC Terrain as it made the left turn onto westbound I-70, and the force of the impact threw the motorcyclist from the bike and onto the pavement. Despite the violent nature of the crash, the outlet reported that the motorcyclist was hospitalized and was in stable condition as of its report.
The driver of the GMC was also taken to a hospital, with non-life-threatening injuries, and was likewise listed in stable condition, the station's report said. No further details on the circumstances leading up to the collision, the exact crash location beyond the Blue Ridge Cutoff area, or any possible citations have been released.
A Stretch of Road With a History
Tuesday's crash is not the first serious collision reported near this interchange. In a separate incident, KSHB reported that a driver lost control entering the ramp from northbound Blue Ridge Cutoff to eastbound I-70 at high speed around 3:20 a.m. on a Monday, crossing a concrete island and striking a guardrail. That driver, behind the wheel of a blue Ford Fusion, was transported to an area hospital in life-threatening condition, and the Kansas City Police Department said it was investigating whether impairment played a role.
Motorcycle crashes specifically have drawn attention across the metro this year. The Kansas City Star reported that a July crash on I-70 in Wyandotte County was at least the sixth motorcycle crash that month in the Kansas City area to cause serious injury or death, per kansascity.com. At the time, at least three motorcyclists had been seriously injured and three had died on area roads that month alone. In that July crash, a 38-year-old Kansas City man was seriously hurt when his motorcycle went off the road at the exit from I-70 to northbound I-635, was thrown from the bike, struck a metal guardrail, and was taken to the University of Kansas Medical Center with a suspected serious injury.
Other Fatal Wrecks Nearby
Other crashes documented in the area underscore the risks motorcyclists face on Kansas City-area highways. One report from kansascity.com described a motorcyclist who died after a red and black Honda failed to take the curve on the Beardsley Road exit ramp from eastbound I-70 and struck a concrete bridge rail; the rider was ejected from the bridge and landed on the tracks below, according to Kansas City Police Department Capt. Jake Becchina. That same report noted the crash marked the 24th traffic fatality that year in Kansas City, compared with 39 at the same point the previous year.
Another fatal crash, reported by KMBC, occurred at 99th Street and Blue Ridge Boulevard, where a southbound black Honda CBR traveling at high speed struck a red Ford F-150 turning left from northbound Blue Ridge Boulevard onto westbound 99th Street. The motorcyclist was ejected and pronounced dead at the scene, while the truck's driver and four juvenile passengers were uninjured. KMBC noted that crash marked Kansas City's 70th traffic fatality of the year, up from 65 at the same point in 2023.
A separate incident further west, reported by WIBW, involved a 1996 Harley-Davidson traveling west on I-70 near N. 57th Street in Kansas City, Kansas, at what the Kansas Highway Patrol crash log described as a very high rate of speed when the rider made an evasive maneuver to avoid another vehicle. Both the rider and a passenger were transported to the University of Kansas Hospital with serious injuries.
No additional updates on Tuesday's crash near Blue Ridge Cutoff, including any change in the motorcyclist's condition or a formal investigation report, have been released as of this writing.
